The Influence of Benson Relaxation on Oxidative Stress Marker of Premenstrual Syndrome in Students of Khoy University of Medical Sciences

BACKGROUND: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a common painful disorder in females. The use of Benson’s relaxation technique with a focus on sensations affects a range of physical and mental symptoms, reduces stress, and subsequently leads to changes in oxidative stress indexes. AIM: The present study aimed to determine the impact of Benson’s relaxation technique on oxidative stress indexes of premenstrual syndrome in students in Khoy University of Medical Sciences. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design with intervention and control groups was used in this study. The female nursing students at Khoy University of Medical Sciences were selected by convenience and were assigned by the simple random method to control and intervention groups, each of which with 30 samples. The data collection tool was a three-part questionnaire and a checklist for recording values. Data collection was done at two stages of before and after intervention on days 21 to 28 and the third day of menstruation by distributing questionnaires and a blood sampling. The Mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentage using descriptive statistics and Inferential statistically were utilised to analyse data through paired T-test, independent T-test, and Chi-square tests in addition to analysis of relations by using SPSS V25 at the p-value < 0.05. RESULTS: According to the findings, most of the samples were single (90%), native (61.6%) and had PMS symptoms (83.3%). The participants’ mean age was 21 ± 1.5 years, and most of them had physical symptoms of headache, fatigue, behavioural symptoms of nervous tension and mood swing. The results indicated a significant difference between control and intervention groups in malondialdehyde2 (MDA2) and Total Antioxidant Capacity2 (TAC2) (p = 0.001). The within-groups comparison indicated a statistically significant difference between the total MDA index with a mean difference of 0.126 and TAC index (-.122) of the intervention group (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The research results emphasised the importance of using Benson’s relaxation techniques as an alternative medicine on the variability of levels oxidative stress markers and Consequently for reducing physical and mental symptoms.