The effect of regular aerobic exercises on premenstrual syndrome in sedentary women

Abstract

Background: Premenstrual symptoms (PMS) occur very commonly and cause a negative impact on the overall quality of women's lives. The aim of this study was to assess the PMS symptoms between women who exercise and non-exercising sedentary women. Material and methods: A total of 220 participants were studied. N = 100 exercising group and N = 120 non-exercising were selected as participants. The exercising group was selected from women who regularly do aerobic exercise (walk-running) for 3-5 days a week, within a 60 minute time period for each exercise session for 4 months. Results: The mean number of menstruations in a year and the frequency of menstruations were compared between the exercising group and the non-exercising group. No significant differences were found in that respect, but significant differences were found for the length of the menstrual flow. Premenstrual PMS scores were found significantly higher in the non-exercising group than the exercising group. Water retention, negative affect, impaired concentration, behavioral change, arousal and control scales show significantly higher scores in the non-exercising group than in the exercising group in the premenstrual phase. Conclusions: The obtained results allow concluding that in women who exercise regularly, some PMS symptoms occur less frequently and are less intense than in sedentary women; therefore, physical activity may be recommended as a method of reducing menstrual symptom severity.