Case report, 2023
What psychiatric conditions do women referred to a specialist clinic for premenstrual disorders have?
Most women with premenstrual disorders have another psychiatric condition. Of 146 women referred to a UK specialist clinic, 89.0% had a psychiatric diagnosis, 64.4% met criteria for PMDD, and 45.6% had worsening of another psychiatric disorder.
What they did
Doctors reviewed medical records from a UK specialist clinic to see what psychiatric conditions women with premenstrual problems had. They reviewed 146 women who were referred from 2014 to 2020.
What they found
Of 146 women referred to the clinic, 130 (89.0%) had a psychiatric diagnosis. 94 (64.4%) met criteria for PMDD. 67 (45.6%) had worsening of another psychiatric disorder.
What it means for you
Women with premenstrual disorders often have other mental health conditions. Understanding these connections matters for treatment planning. The main limit is that this is a specialist clinic, so these women may have more complex cases than women in the general population.
146
women referred to clinic
89.0%
with a psychiatric diagnosis
64.4%
meeting PMDD criteria
About the study
- Original title
- A case series of premenstrual disorders presenting to the UK's National Female Hormone Clinic
- Authors
- Reilly TJ, Knox CL, Marsh MS et al.
- Journal
- BJPsych bulletin
- Year
- 2023
- Study design
- Case report
- Participants
- 146
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2022.63
Original abstract
Aims and method: We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of female patients presenting with premenstrual disorders to a tertiary service in the UK. We conducted a retrospective case-note review of referrals to the National Female Hormone Clinic from April 2014 to August 2020. Based on clinical assessment, we determined whether the patient met criteria for premenstrual dysphoric disorder or premenstrual exacerbation of an underlying psychiatric disorder. Results: Of 146 patients seen in clinic for premenstrual disorders, an ICD-10 psychiatric diagnosis was made in 130 (89.0%); a minority 16 (11.0%) did not have a psychiatric diagnosis. Following assessment, 94 patients (64.4%) met criteria for premenstrual dysphoric disorder and 67 (45.6%) had exacerbation of a psychiatric disorder. Clinical implications: Patients presenting to this specialist service had complex psychiatric comorbidity; almost half presented with exacerbation of a psychiatric disorder.
Reproduced under CC-BY.
Topics
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