Randomised trial, 2013
Does fluoxetine or calcium work better than placebo for premenstrual syndrome?
Fluoxetine worked better than placebo with clear benefit and moderate to strong effect sizes. Calcium had only a small effect. Fluoxetine appears to be the more effective treatment.
What they did
39 women with at least 3 moderate to severe PMS symptoms and functional impairment were randomly assigned to fluoxetine (10 mg twice daily), calcium carbonate (600 mg twice daily), or placebo. The study lasted 4 menstrual cycles. Symptoms were measured using DRSP, IDS, Premenstrual Tension Scale, and CGI scales.
What they found
Fluoxetine showed the greatest symptom improvement. Statistically significant reductions were found for DRSP (β = -0.28, P = 0.02) and CGI-Improvement (β = -1.03, P = 0.04). Cohen d effect sizes for fluoxetine were between 0.80 and 2.08 compared to placebo, while calcium effect sizes were only between 0.10 and 0.44.
What it means for you
Fluoxetine is clearly helpful for PMS symptoms, while calcium has minimal benefit beyond placebo. This is a small pilot study (n=39), so larger comparison studies are needed. Fluoxetine's benefit was much stronger than calcium's.
39
Number of women
0.80-2.08
Fluoxetine effect size versus placebo
0.10-0.44
Calcium effect size versus placebo
About the study
- Original title
- A pilot study to compare fluoxetine, calcium, and placebo in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Yonkers KA, Pearlstein TB, Gotman N
- Journal
- Journal of clinical psychopharmacology
- Year
- 2013
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 39
- What was tested
- Fluoxetine 10 mg twice daily, calcium carbonate 600 mg twice daily, or placebo
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1097/jcp.0b013e31829c7697
Topics
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