Objective:

The objective of this study is to compare sportswomen with sedentary women with regard to the premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

Material and Methods:

In this study 93 sportswomen playing in the national basketball league and 96 sedentary women studying in the department of nursing of a university were given the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) and the Beck Depression Scale (BDS) using the method of face to face interviews. While evaluating the obtained data, the average numbers, the T-test, K-square test, Yates square test, Mann Whitney-U test and Pearson Correlation test were used.

Results:

The survey suggests that the total MDQ average of the sportswomen during their menstrual period is 27.43±21.05; it is 21.03±16.41 during their premenstrual period and 5.66±6.23 during the intermenstrual period. These averages are statistically lower than those of the sedentary women. Besides, the age of menarche of the sportswomen is statistically higher than that of the sedentary ones. While no statistical difference occurred between the two groups with regard to the BDS averages, a positive correlation between MDQ and BDS has been observed.

Conclusion:

The changes as to PMS are less often seen among the sportswomen than the sedentary women. “Negative sensibility” and “pain” has most often been experienced by the members of both groups during the menstrual period. The incidence of dysmenorrhea is lower among the sportswomen than that of the sedentary women. Increase in the incidence of depression symptoms cause more changes in PMS experience.

Keywords: Physical activity, premenstrual syndrome, sportswomen, exercise