---
title: Do women with PMS have a higher risk of depression later in life?
description: In a 5 to 12 year follow-up study, women with PMS had a nonsignificantly higher rate of new depression, but this difference disappeared when comparing only wo
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/a-follow-up-study-of-premenstrual-syndrome-1999/
---

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- Do women with PMS have a higher risk of depression later in life?

Cohort study, 1999

# Do women with PMS have a higher risk of depression later in life?

In a 5 to 12 year follow-up study, women with PMS had a nonsignificantly higher rate of new depression, but this difference disappeared when comparing only women who had no prior depression history, suggesting prior depression rather than PMS drives the risk.

 Early or limited evidence

27 women with documented PMS and 21 control women, followed for 5 to 12 years

## What they did

Researchers followed 27 women with documented PMS and 21 control women without PMS for 5 to 12 years. At follow-up, they conducted structured interviews about depression. A smaller group of 7 PMS patients and 11 controls completed daily symptom tracking for 2 months.

## What they found

Women with PMS had a nonsignificantly higher incidence of new depression during follow-up than controls. When looking at women without prior depression, the difference disappeared. Daily ratings confirmed the original PMS diagnoses in the tracked group.

## What it means for you

Women with PMS who later develop depression may be developing it because of their baseline depression risk, not because PMS causes depression. The study is small and preliminary, particularly for the prospective tracking portion. More research is needed.

27

PMS patients followed

21

control women

5-12 years

follow-up period

## About the study

Original title A follow-up study of premenstrual syndrome Authors Roca CA, Schmidt PJ, Rubinow DR Journal The Journal of clinical psychiatry Year 1999 Study design Cohort study Participants 27 What was tested None (observational follow-up only) Read the paper [doi.org/10.4088/jcp.v60n1108](https://doi.org/10.4088/jcp.v60n1108)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Major depressive disorder](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-major-depression/)[Schizophrenia and psychosis](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-psychosis/)

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