IS THERE ANY IMPACT OF EMPLOYMENT STATUS ON PREMENSTRUAL SYMPTOMATOLOGY?

Objective: To find out the difference between various premenstrual symptoms in employed and unemployed women. Methodology: This was a cross sectional, prospective, comparative study conducted from May 2010 to April 2011, in Emergency and Out Patient sections of Obstetrics and Gynecology department, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. By purposive non-probability sampling technique, 150 subjects were selected among attendants of regular patients, after fulfilling inclusion criterion of employed and unemployed women, in age group of 15-40years. Premenstrual symptoms were recorded as, Quantification of severity of psychological, social and physical symptoms, for two consecutive symptomatic cycles. SPSS 16.0 was used to analyze the data. Chi-Square test was used to compare the premenstrual symptoms between employed and unemployed women. P value ≤ 0.05 was taken as significant between pairs of variables. Results: A total of 150 female patients recruited in the study. Out of these 50.7% (n=76) were employed and unemployed were 49.3% (n=74). Mean age was 26±6.2 years (15-45). Overall 72% (n=109) of subjects were symptomatic with one or more premenstrual symptoms. Psychological symptoms were found in 68 of 150 women (45%). About 50% of women in the employed group had psychological symptoms as compared to 40% in the un-employed group. Social symptoms were present in 64 of 150 women (42%). About 36 out of 76 employed women (47%) whereas 28 out of 74 un-employed women (37%) reported social symptoms. Physical symptoms were present in 89 of 150 women (59%). These were present in 43 out of 76 employed (56%) and 46 out of 74 un-employed women (62%). Conclusion: The results suggest that the distribution of premenstrual symptoms does not vary significantly between employed and un-employed women. Although different groups of females may have different manifestations, these are not statistically significant to emphasize the role of environmental factors in its causation.