An intervention program designed to alleviate the effects of perimenstrual symptoms has been developed and its effectiveness assessed. The subjects in the present study included 12 women with severe perimenstrual syndrome and 13 women with mild perimenstrual symptoms. Daily measures included prospective assessment of the perception of perimenstrual symptoms and basal body temperature. Before, during and three months after the intervention program, the perimenstrual symptoms, self-care behavior, self-efficacy, mental image of menstruation, stress reaction, personal resources, and self-esteem were assessed. The intervention program was effective in increasing self-care behavior and improving the subjects' mental image of menstruation. Furthermore, in women with perimenstrual syndrome, perimenstrual symptoms decreased and self-esteem and personal resources improved. In women with mild perimenstrual symptoms, stress reactions decreased and self-esteem improved. These results demonstrated that the intervention program could decrease perimenstrual symptoms in women with perimenstrual syndrome. In future studies, it will be necessary to investigate the effects of continuous support based on the medical interventions and cognitive therapy.

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The purpose of this study is to identify women's needs in rural and urban community through a comparison of the two communities and to propose health care service-system satisfying their needs. METHODS : Self-administered questionnaire survey. The data from 271 respondents aged 45-55 who lived in rural communities and in urban communities. Contents of questionnaire ; we used Simple Formula Menopause Index to identify menopausal symptoms ; questionnaire consisted of 40 items made by us from interviews to identify needs for health care services. RESULTS : Menopausal symptoms : the rate of SMI scored severe level for medical treatment was high rate, but was not significant difference. Significant differences were 4 items about needs. In rural communities, "want to know what menopausal symptoms are" and "want to consult with not being known to families" were high significant. In urban communities, "want to know where I can consult with" and "want to know how to consult with". CONCLUSION : In rural communities, health care system should be needed for women to recognize their own menopausal symptoms considering their job or family structure. This suggests that health services system should be established for women to access easily to social resources according to their own needs.

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The effect of anxiety sensitivity on the experience of pain, pain threshold, pain tolerance, subjective evaluation of pain, the fear of pain, and cognitive coping strategy for pain was investigated. Physically and psychologically healthy female university students (=31) participated in this study. Participants were divided into low (n=12) and high anxiety sensitivity groups (n=19) based on the Japanese version of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index score. Then, participants were required to dip their hands in cold water maintained at 3℃ (Cold Pressor Test). The pain threshold and pain tolerance were measured. After the test, the pain scale, the multiple pain scale, and the Japanese version of the coping strategy questionnaire were administered to the participants. Results indicated that the high anxiety sensitivity group had a higher subjective evaluation of pain and used a positive self-instructional coping strategy, such as self-encouragement, more often than did the low anxiety sensitivity group. Based on the above results, it is suggested that anxiety sensitivity is an important variable that affects subjective evaluation of pain, as well as the cognitive coping strategy for pain.

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The objective of this research is to determine the level of awareness as well as feelings for women in their post-abortion period of less than a month. The consenting subjects were limited to those who received an abortion during the early stages of their pregnancy in one of the obstetric and gynecological clinics in the metropolitan area. For methodology purposes, semi-structured interviewing and self-entry questionnaires were used. The completion of one week after the abortion was used as the guideline for an interview. Then, only after consent, a second interview was conducted after one month. A continuing comparative analysis referred to Grounded Theory approach was performed. The six subjects were women between the ages of 20-23 (only first time for four women), who were single and childless. As a result of the analysis, five different levels of awareness and feelings in relation to their abortion were established. These five levels were sequentially : the severity of the act of abortion ; their irresponsible self-conduct ; their future ; the reciprocity with their partner ; and their feelings toward their parents. Women who received an abortion are more likely to be isolated and withdrawn due to the guilt of ending a life. It is stated that isolation occurs from the inability to put matters into perspective, and the trained staff need to prevent this from happening.

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The clinical efficacy of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) on the symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in women with pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) was evaluated by daily diary evaluation and the use of psychological scales. Thirty-six women diagnosed as having PMDD were enrolled in the study based on the following two inclusion criteria : 1) Women in whom the total score calculated from the Penn Daily Symptom Report (DSR) for the 5 days prior to menstruation was at least 50% higher than that for Days 5-9 of menstruation ; 2) the total DSR score for the 5 days prior to menstruation was over 80 or the score on the day of the maximum symptom severity during the 5 days prior to menstruation was over 15. The changes in the type and severity of symptoms following 3 months of fluvoxamine therapy (50mg/day, in principle) were evaluated based on the DSR, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment 26 (WHO/QOL-26) scores. After fluvoxamine treatment, the DSR score was 25.1±14.6 on the day of maximum symptom severity during the 5 days prior to menstruation with a total score for the 5 days prior to menstruation of 133.0±72.4, which presented 79.3% and 66.9%, respectively, of the corresponding scores for the untreated period (scores prior to the start of fluvoxamine treatment : control menstruation period) (p<0.05). Significant improvement in the sores for all the domains of WHO/QOL-26, except those for the environmental domain, began to be observed as early as after one cycle of fluvoxamine treatment. The results of this study suggest that treatment with fluvoxamine is extremely effective for obtaining early improvement of the mental symptoms and QOL of patients with PMDD.

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This study aimed to obtain data for guidance on self-care measures for women with premenstrual syndrome by comparing physiological and psychological changes in female students using a footbath with and without aromatic oils.【Subjects and Methods】The subjects were 20 healthy female students (average age, 21.4±1.0years). They were divided into two groups of 10, and their feet were bathed with or without aromatic oils of lemon essence for 15 minutes. Physiological parameters including body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, and skin surface temperature of the hands and feet were measured. To determine psychological changes, a questionnaire including relaxation scales and the Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) were completed by all the subjects before and after the footbath.【Results】In both the groups, pulses rate and blood pressures decreased just after the footbath, while the skin surface temperatures of the feet increased after the footbath. In addition, the scores after the footbath for 'feeling refreshed' in the relaxation scales and for 'uplifted mood' in MDQ were significantly higher in the aromatic oil group than in the control group. The scores for 'pain' and 'reduced concentration' in MDQ were significantly lower in the aromatic oil group than in the control group after the footbath.【Conclusions】It is suggested that relaxation was achieved in the aromatic oil group.

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