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Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte

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GAION, Patrícia Aparecida  and  VIEIRA, Lenamar Fiorese. Prevalence of premenstrual syndrome in athletes. Rev Bras Med Esporte [online]. 2010, vol.16, n.1, pp. 24-28. ISSN 1517-8692.

The premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a set of emotional and physical symptoms that adversely affects the daily activities of women during the pre-menstrual period. Despite being a theme quite discussed in the general population, there is still a gap in the literature concerning the presence of PMS in athletes. Thus, the objective of the study was to analyze the prevalence of PMS in athletes. An inquiry study with 57 athletes age range of 18 and 47 years from 11 sport modalities was developed. A self-applicable sheet based on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists criteria (ACOG, 2000) was used to identify the presence of PMS ; the diagnostic confirmation was performed through the answer of a symptoms diary during two consecutive menstrual cycles (based on ACOG, 2000). Shapiro Wilks test and Fisher's exact test, adopting a P<0.05 were used for the data analysis. The prevalence of PMS retrospectively estimated was of 68% while the estimated prevalence through the follow-up with the diaries was of 48%. Breast soreness, anger burst, anxiety and irritability were the mostly frequent mentioned symptoms. Significant associations were observed between PMS and weekly training volume (P = 0.041), total amount of symptoms (P < 0,0001), amount of physical symptoms (P = 0,004), breast soreness (P = 0,028) and abdominal discomfort (P = 0,015). The prevalence of PMS in athletes was considered high and the retrospective analysis overestimated the prevalence of PMS in relation to the daily follow-up. The high prevalence as well as the association between PMS and the higher volume of weekly training suggest that the sports training may have some impact in the prevalence of PMS in athletes.

Keywords : premenstrual syndrome; menstrual cycle; sports performance; menstruation.

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