Abstract

Background: Women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) suffer from insomnia and sleep deprivation thereby reporting difficulties pertaining to cognitive and psychomotor skill performance. Reaction time (RT) being a simple objective tool was used to measure their performance in our study. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was (1) to determine the sleep quality and cognition, psychomotor skill in women with and without PMS and (2) to assess the correlation between sleep quality and cognition, psychomotor skill in women with different grades of PMS.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 60 female nursing students aged 18–20 years. Sleep quality was assessed using Pittsburgh sleep quality index and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) questionnaire and the RT (visual and auditory) was assessed using PC1000Hz RT. The parameters were then compared in different grades of PMS, which was assessed using Moos questionnaire.
Results: Among the 60 females, 20 each belonged to moderate, mild, and absent PMS (control) category. Analysis of variance was used to compare the sleep score, ISI, and RT in different severity of PMS. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups with a P value of 0.001 each. This suggests that sleep score ISI and RT were higher in moderate PMS when compared to mild and control group. Conclusion: As the severity of PMS increased, the RT also increased, implying poor cognition and psychomotor skill. Furthermore, individuals with increased severity of PMS reported a poor quality of sleep and insomnia which could be the probable reason for poor RT. Thus, education on enhancing the sleep quality may improve the quality of life in PMS.