Pre-menstrual syndrome is a combination of physical and mood disturbance that occur in the last half of a woman’ s  menstrual after ovulation which normally end with the onset of the menstrual. Menstruation is still regarded as something unclean or dirty in India and the reaction to menstruation depends upon awareness and knowledge about the subject. Most girls are ignorant about the physiology of menstruation and therefore the first experience of menstruation is of fear, shame and disgust. The present study assessed the effectiveness of structured teaching program on knowledge regarding pre-menstrual syndrome among the adolescent girls at selected school in rural area. The design was adopted by the investigator in this study was pretest and post test quasi experimental design. A total of 30 adolescent girls were selected from the school by using convenient sampling technique. The purpose of the study was explained to the students and consent was taken from all the participants. A structured pretest questionnaire related to pre-menstrual syndrome were asked to them for scoring knowledge. The study found that adolescent girls had inadequate knowledge regarding pre-menstrual syndrome in pretest. After the STP on pre-menstrual syndrome there was a significant improvement in knowledge of the adolescent girls regarding pre-menstrual syndrome. The study concluded that the STP was effective in improving the knowledge of the adolescent girls regarding pre-menstrual syndrome. The formulated hypothesis was supported.

Keywords: Premenstrual syndrome, PMS, menstruation, menstrual cycle, menstrual hygiene.

1. World Health Organization. Programming for adolescent health and development. WHO Technical Report Series. 1996 ;886(2)
2. Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health. United Nations Population Fund - India. 2010 [cited2012Nov15].
3. Drakshayani DK Ventaka RP, A study on menstrual hygiene among rural adolescent girls. Ind J Med Sci 1994; 48(6):139 - 43.
4. Oyebola DO, Female Reproduction. Essential Physiology for Students of Medicine, Pharmacy and Related Disciplines. Ibadan: Nihort Press; 2002. pp.232-234
5. Dasgupta A, Sarkar M. Menstrual Hygiene: How Hygienic is the Adolescent Girl? Indian journal of community medicine [serial on the Internet]. 2008 [cited 2012 Aug 6].;33(2)
6. Bheenaveni R. Beliefs and practices in women health. Promote healthy life. 2010
7. Stubbs ML. Cultural perceptions and practices around menarche and adolescent menstruation in the United States. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2008;11(35)
8. Water Aid’s Mission . Is menstrual hygiene and management an issue for adolescent school girls?.2009[cited2012Jun6].
9. Ranjan R, Sharama RK. Gender differentials in the knowledge of RTI and STI in India: Evidence from RCH-RHS II—survey. Inter-regional seminar on reproductive health, unmet needs and poverty: Issues of access and quality of service, Bangkok. Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography [homepage on the Internet]. 2002 [cited 2012 Jun6].
10. Gender and Sanitation R. Breaking taboos, improving lives. Tearfund. [homepage on the Internet].Nodate[cited2012Jun8].
11. Indian Council of Medical Research (I.C.M.R). Knowledge and practices of adolescent girls. In Reproductive health. ICMR annual report, New Delhi [serial on the Internet]. 2005 - 2006 [cited 2012 Aug 12]; 74 INCLEN international clinical epidemiology network. 1998 - 2001 Available from: www.inclen.org.
12. ,Sharma P,Saha R.Problems related to menstruation and their effect on daily routine of students;Maulana Azad Medical College Delhi, India. Asia Pac, Public Health.
13. Daley A, Exercise and premenstrual symptomatology; a comprehensive review; university of Birmingham, United Kingdom. J womens Health (Larchmt). Jun; 18(6): 855-9

Mrs. Niza. Subramanian

Associate Professor, Samarth Nursing College, Dervan,

Ratnagiri District, Maharashtra