The frequency distribution of 1st year Female nursing students According to Age of Menarche.

Age of Menarche Ages 13 and Above Ages 12 and Below Total Freque Percent ncy age 15 45.50 % 18 54.50 % 33 100.00 %

In this table it shows that the 1st year female nursing students having the age of menarche at 12 yrs and below are more than the female nursing students having their menarche at 13 yrs old and above. According to Treolar the age at which menstruation begins has declined steadily until recent years. Treloar (1970) believes this decline has ceased in the United States and the age of menarche may be possibly on the rise. This happened during the 1970s in the united states and now is happening to the Philippines. According to Riley et al. The age at which a girl has her first menstrual cycle is determined by a combination of factors, including genetic makeup, Social Economic Status, general health, nutritional intake, and physical exercise. The age of onset is thought to be an indicator of the general health and well being of a culture or country because of its relationship to health and nutritional status. It is widely recognized that nutritional status is one of the most important non-genetic determinants of menarche (Riley et al. 1993). During the 1960s the United States experienced its longest uninterrupted period of economic expansion in

history. In the 1960s housing and computer industry overpowered automobiles, chemicals, and electrically powered consumer durables, which were the leading sectors in the 1950s. Big business dominated the domestic economy during this time. In 1962 the five largest industrial corporations accounted for over 12 percent of all assets in manufacturing. By 1965 General Motors, standard old of New Jersey and ford had larger incomes than all the farms in the United States. Americas overseas investment increased to $49.2 billion in 1965. Thus increase in their economic status, hence increasing the nutrition of the people. According to WHO In general, better nourished girls reach menarche earlier than undernourished girls (WHO 2003), And During the 20th century, the average age of menarche has decreased in industrialized countries by 3 to 4 months per decade (Chung et.al., 2001). Vegetable calorie consumption per person and per day has a small, but significant, influence on age at menarche, supporting the idea that good nutritional conditions favor early menarche (Frisch 1982, 1985; Warren 1983; Haq 1984). Poor nutrition is known to alter the ratio of lean mass to body fat and to delay the onset of menarche (Baker 1985).

The Frequency and Distribution of 1st year female nursing students Experiencing discomfort a few days before menstruation Category Yes No Total Freque Percent ncy age 33 100% 0 0% 33 100%

This table shows that all of the 1st yr female nursing students are experiencing discomfort a few days before their menses According to Chung Et Al. Across cultures, women frequently talk about the physical and psychological implications of their menstrual cycles. The conversations are often cloaked in metaphor, however, and the language reflects widespread discomfort with menstruating women and a universal reluctance to discuss the process directly. (Chung et.al., 2001). The way in which menstruation is discussed and the language used to describe it reveal how a society views the event of menstruation.

The frequency and distribution of the premenstrual symptoms experienced by the 33 female nursing students and the corresponding percentage Symptoms Cognitive Autonomic Behavioral Psychologic Fluid and Electrolyte imbalance Pain Neurologic Mammary Dermatologic Affective Respiratory Neurovegatative Freque Percent ncy age 32 97% 27 82% 30 91% 32 97% 29 88% 31 31 22 31 33 11 31 94% 94% 66% 94% 100% 33% 94%

This table shows that all the respondents experience affective symptoms which consists of Sadness, Anxiety, Anger, Irritability, Mood swings, Happiness, Light feelings. And the lowest is the respiratory symptoms. Davis defined PMS as Premenstrual syndrome is a diagnostic term defined as the cyclic recurrence of psychological (affective) symptoms and/or physical (somatic) symptoms restricted to the luteal phase of a womans menstrual cycle, socially speaking PMS includes impairment/dysfunction in social or work-related performance in the symptomatic woman (Davis, 2000). Thus There will be no PMS without its affective symptoms. Since there are no ROLs to defend the low respiratory symptoms, because there are a few of them, this shows that there is a weak point to link respiratory symptoms to PMS.