School performance Archives - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

Purpose: to compare the performance in tests between students with and without premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and between students with PMS in and outside the premenstrual period. Methods: the present study had a before-after design (quasi-experimental), to which 40 control patients without PMS were added. A total of 40 students from high school and courses for admission to the University were evaluated using, a standardized questionnaire. The students were divided, according to the scores obtained, into three groups: A) PMS group in the premenstrual period; B) PMS group outside the premenstrual period; C) control group (no PMS). The marks obtained in Physics and Math tests by the groups with and without PMS were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney test. The marks of the group PMS in and outside the premenstrual period were evaluated by the signal test. Results: of 4438 questionnaires applied, 29 from students with PMS and 29 from controls were selected. Comparing the medians of the marks obtained by the students from the PMS group in and outside the premenstrual period, there was no significant difference. There was also no significant difference between the marks of the PMS and control groups. Also, when the scores were evaluated, there was no difference in and outside the period, in the PMS group. Conclusion: PMS was not able to modify significantly the students' marks or scores in this study.