Relationship between perceived stress level with menstruation symptoms and quality of life in women

Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between perceived stress level, menstrual symptoms and quality of life in women aged between 18-50 years. Material and Methods: This study was carried out with the participation of 172 volunteers. The Perceived Stress Scale was used to evaluate the stress levels of the participants, the Menstruation Symptom Scale was used to evaluate the menstrual symptoms, and the Short Form-36 was used to evaluate the quality of life. Simple Linear Regression Analysis was used to examine the effects of demographic characteristics of the participants on menstrual symptoms, and Pearson's or Spearman's Correlation Analyzes were performed in accordance with the distribution of the data to determine the relationship between perceived stress level, menstrual symptoms, and quality of life. Results: The results of our study show that smoking increases menstrual symptoms (p=0.022). Perceived stress level was found to be correlated with all sub-parameters of the Menstruation Symptom Scale at a low level (p<0.05). It was found that there was a moderate and negative correlation with all Short Form-36 sub-parameters, except for the Short Form-36 physical function sub-parameter (p<0.05). Discussion: Our study showed that menstrual symptoms tend to increase as the perceived stress level in women increases. In addition, it has been revealed that the increase in stress level and menstrual symptoms negatively affects the quality of life of women. According to the results of our study, it is recommended that future studies examine the effects of stress reduction practices on women's menstrual symptoms and quality of life.