Do contrasting socio-ecological conditions bring difference in premenstrual syndrome and its concomitants? A...

We asked in our research whether the premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and its concomitants, differ between "sedente" and "migrant" populations hailing from the same ethnic group, owing to their living in contrasting socio-ecological conditions.

A total of 501 Oraon adolescents (sedente: 200, migrant: 301) were studied. Data on PMS was reported retrospectively using a list of 29 standard symptoms. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on PMS. PCA, which resulted in six principal components (PC1 to PC6) were loaded with "behavioral and cognitive," "negative mood," "pain and fluid retention," "vestibular and breast tenderness," and "fatigue," and/or "gastrointestinal" symptoms. Step-wise hierarchical regression was applied using migration status (step 1), socio-demographic (step 2), menstrual (step 3), and nutritional and lifestyle variables (step 4) as concomitants for each principal component.

Significantly, a greater number of migrants reported PMS but of milder intensity, unlike the sedentes. Significant sedente-migrant differences were found in the concomitants for PMS. Multivariate analyses showed differential socio-demographic (occupational, educational and wealth status, religion), nutritional (dietary carbohydrate protein and fat, tea intake, body mass index, percent body fat, waist hip ratio, fat mass index), menstrual (age at menarche, cycle length, dysmenorrhoea) and anemic status of the sedentes and the migrants were significantly associated with PMS.

Sedente and migrant participants, despite hailing from the same ethnic group, sharply differed in the prevalence of PMS and its concomitants owing to their living in contrasting socio-ecological conditions.