Comparison of Menstrual Period Experiences in Mothers and Their Daughters

INTRODUCTION: Menstrual problems affected by mothers or learned from mothers may continue for a lifetime. Understanding these factors may enable symptoms to be controlled. We aimed to compare premenstrual symptoms of daughters with their mothers' previous premenstrual and menopausal complaints and thought it might be a useful contribution for managing menstrual periods.
METHODS: Postmenopausal women who applied to gynecology and obstetrics policlinic and their menstruating adult daughters were clinically evaluated with psychiatrist clinician interview. Menopause rating scale(MRS) and premenstrual syndrome scale(PMSS) for previous were applied to mothers, and PMSS to daughters. Sociodemographic characteristics were also evaluated. Results were compared in SPSS 26.0 program.
RESULTS: There were 55 mother-daughter couples participated in the study. The mean age of daughters was 25.54 ± 6.4 years, of mothers was 55.23 ± 8.31 years. Anxiety, depressive thoughts, sleep, bloating symptoms of PMSS in both groups were similar (p=0.366, p=0.532, p=0.104, p=0.096 respectively), however depressive mood, fatigue, appetite, pain symptoms were different (p=0.003, p=0.031, p=0.010, p=0.001 respectively). Anxiety and fatigue symptoms of daughters were positively correlated with psychological menopausal symptoms of mothers (r=.334*, p=.013 and r=.302*, p=.025 respectively), however daughters’ PMSS scores weren't correlated to mothers’ somatic menopausal symptoms. Daughters’ pain scores were correlated to mothers’ urogenital menopausal symptoms o(r=.307*, p=.023).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Premenstrual symptoms of daughters were related to some of their mothers' previous premenstrual and current menopausal problems. The investigation of social relationship between PMS and menopause may play role in determining methods for managing menstruel periods. But long-term, large-populated prospective follow-up studies may provide more evidence.