The prevalence of moderate-severe premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder and the related factors in high school students: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a clinical condition with physical and psychological symptoms affecting female students' quality of life, social activity, and school performance. Since most studies have focused on adult women, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of moderate-severe PMS, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and their related factors in high school students.

METHODS

The participants of this cross-sectional study, conducted in 2019, were 900 high school students in Sari, north of Iran. They were selected by census method from six high schools. Data were collected using Premenstrual Syndrome Screening Tool and General Health Questionnaire.

RESULTS

The prevalence of moderate-severe PMS and PMDD were 33.9% and 12.3%, respectively. According to the logistic regression model, dysmenorrhea was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of moderate-severe PMS [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.356, confidence interval (CI): 1.706-3.254, p < 0.0001] and PMDD (AOR: 1.924, CI: 1.186-3.120, p = 0.0008). Moreover, optimal general health was associated with a lower prevalence of moderate-severe PMS (AOR: 0.326, CI: 0.221-0.480, p < 0.0001) and PMDD (AOR: 0.309, CI: 0.161-0.593, p < 0.0001). The findings revealed that a family history of PMS and adding excess salt to the food were associated with a higher prevalence of PMDD (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Although many high school students do not meet the criteria for PMDD, many experience PMS, which could be diminished with proper diet and improved general health.

The effect of peer education compared to education provided by healthcare providers on premenstrual syndrome in high school students: A social network-based quasi-experimental controlled trial

AIM

This study aimed to compare the effect of peer education and education provided by healthcare providers on PMS in high school students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This quasi-experimental non-randomized controlled trial with a three-armed parallel design was performed on 90 students allocated in three groups, namely, education by peer (intervention group 1 = 30), education by a healthcare provider (intervention group 2 = 30), and a control group (n = 30). The primary outcome was a change in the score of PMS, and the secondary outcomes were changes in the general health score and the frequency of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Education about PMS management was held in WhatsApp messenger in six sessions (two sessions per week) for both intervention groups. All three groups received routine school counseling. The researchers applied repeated-measures ANCOVA, McNemar, and post-hoc Bonferroni tests.

RESULTS

Education in intervention group 1 (Partial Eta Squared = 0.67, p < 0.0001) and intervention group 2 (Partial Eta Squared = 0.82, p < 0.0001) significantly reduced the PMS score compared to the control group. In addition, the change in general health score in the intervention groups compared to the control group showed the effectiveness of the intervention (p < 0.001). Education did not significantly reduce PMDD frequency in the intervention groups compared to the control group (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study suggests education by peers and healthcare providers effects on PMS and general health in adolescents. It suggested that the effectiveness of these approaches be investigated in other adolescents' health conditions.

A comparison between the effects of school-based education programs provided by peer group versus health practitioners on premenstrual syndrome in adolescents: A protocol for a non-masked clinical trial

Aim

To compare the effect of school‐based education programs, by peer group versus health practitioner on Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) in adolescent girls.

Design

Non‐masked three‐armed clinical trial.

Methods

Ninety 11th‐grade students with moderate to severe PMS will be allocated to Intervention Group 1 (IG1), Intervention Group 2 (IG2) and Comparison Group (CG). Three weeks (six online sessions) of parallel education will be implemented in IG1 by trained peer educators and in IG2 by a health practitioner. The primary outcome will be changes in PMS severity score between three groups over time (measured by Daily Record of Severity of Problems). Secondary outcomes include changes in Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and General Health. Data collection will be conducted in two‐time points, at baseline, and at the end of the intervention.

Results

Our study will explore the effect of school‐based education programs, by peer group versus health practitioner on PMS. This will add to the evidence‐based interventions to PMS management and the effectiveness of peer education in health promotion of adolescents girls.

Infertility Distress Management in Couples Treated with Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) in COVID-19 Pandemic

Background:

World Health Organization estimates that 60–80 million couple worldwide currently suffer from infertility. Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is also another major concern. Chromosomal rearrangements play a crucial role in primary and secondary infertility and RPL. Underlying genetic abnormalities like chromosomal abnormalities contribute to 5–10% of the reproductive failures. The aim of the study was to evaluate the chromosomal abnormalities in infertility and RPL cases to help obstetrician/fertility experts to carry out risk assessment and provide appropriate assisted reproductive techniques for better management of the problem.

Methods:

Karyotyping was performed for 414 cases with the history of infertility and RPL over a period of one year. Samples were processed according to procedures of AGT cytogenetic laboratory manual.

Results:

Chromosomal abnormalities were observed in 15% of cases. Robertsonian translocation, reciprocal translocation, inversion, derivatives, marker chromosomes, mosaics, aneuploidy and polymorphic variants each contributed 2%, 3%, 3%, 13%, 2%, 10%, 6% and 61%, respectively.

Conclusion:

Evaluation of chromosomal abnormalities in couple is warranted prior to planning pregnancy especially for assisted reproductive management cases. Chromosomal analysis can be used as one of the diagnostic tools by OBG/IVF specialists in association with geneticist/genetic counselor for proper reproductive counseling and management.

De-noising of SPECT images via optimal thresholding by wavelets

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging provides functional information and precise physiological uptake of radioactivity in a patient's body. Although SPECT imaging is considered to be highly useful in oncology, but the low signal to noise ratio (SNR) caused by photon noise, introduces considerable compromise in image quality and reduction of diagnostic accuracy. It is necessary to apply appropriate noise reduction algorithm to improve the quality of acquired images. In this paper we have used wavelet based denoising in which PSNAR criteria were utilized to arrive at an optimum thresholding of the coefficient at wavelet domain. We have used SIMIND software for simulation of SPECT images and generation of images using cylindrical jaszak phantom. The images were acquired using one million counts of 64x64 matrix size. In this research, simulated images were utilized to construct data dependent optimum threshold level of wavelet coefficients We have compared the results of our thresholding scheme with those obtained by some of commonly used standard denoising schemes in which we show the use of commonly used wavelet-based denoising leads to an inferior noise reduction results as compared with our optimally searched and derived thresholding.