A comparison between the effects of school‐based education programs provided by peer group versus health practitioners on premenstrual syndrome in adolescents: A protocol for a non‐masked clinical trial

Abstract

Abstract Aim To compare the effect of school‐based education programs, by peer group versus health practitioner on Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) in adolescent girls. Design Non‐masked three‐armed clinical trial. Methods Ninety 11th‐grade students with moderate to severe PMS will be allocated to Intervention Group 1 (IG1), Intervention Group 2 (IG2) and Comparison Group (CG). Three weeks (six online sessions) of parallel education will be implemented in IG1 by trained peer educators and in IG2 by a health practitioner. The primary outcome will be changes in PMS severity score between three groups over time (measured by Daily Record of Severity of Problems). Secondary outcomes include changes in Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and General Health. Data collection will be conducted in two‐time points, at baseline, and at the end of the intervention. Results Our study will explore the effect of school‐based education programs, by peer group versus health practitioner on PMS. This will add to the evidence‐based interventions to PMS management and the effectiveness of peer education in health promotion of adolescents girls.

Keywords

• adolescent
• health practitioner
• peer educator
• peer group
• PMS
• premenstrual syndrome