THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME EXPERIENCE AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE OF HEALTH SCIENCES FACULTY STUDENTS

The objective of this study is to determine the relation between the premenstrual syndrome states of the Faculty of Health Sciences students and their attitudes towards holistic and complementary medicine. This descriptive and correlational study was carried out on the female students studying at the faculty of health sciences of a foundation university between the dates of 15 March–15 June 2023. The sample of the study included 470 students. Socio-demographic form, Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PMSS) and Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (HCAMQ) were used as the data collection tools. The score average of the students in the Premenstrual Syndrome Scale was 141.79±36.24 and in the Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire was 26.87±6.26. No significant relation was found between the score averages of Premenstrual Syndrome Scale and Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (p>0.05). The most commonly used complementary and alternative methods by the students were sleep/rest (92.6%), having hot drinks (85.7%), having a hot shower (84.9%), and massage on the abdomen(81.7%). It was determined that the students having irregular periods, smoking, not eating healthily and consuming too much coffee had more premenstrual syndrome symptoms (p<0.05). The students should gain healthy lifestyle behaviors in order to have fewer premenstrual syndrome symptoms. They should be told how they would use complementary and alternative treatment methods in symptom control and topics related to complementary and alternative treatment methods should be added in the course contents.