---
title: Is PMS mainly about symptoms worsening before your period, or is there more?
description: Women with PMS have higher depression, anxiety, and tension even in the early part of their cycle. Some symptoms do worsen premenstrually, but baseline mood a
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/a-prospective-comparison-study-of-premenstrual-symptoms-1986/
---

- [Niyora](https://niyora.com/)
- [Research](https://niyora.com/research/)
- [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/)
- Is PMS mainly about symptoms worsening before your period, or is there more?

Cohort study, 1986

# Is PMS mainly about symptoms worsening before your period, or is there more?

Women with PMS have higher depression, anxiety, and tension even in the early part of their cycle. Some symptoms do worsen premenstrually, but baseline mood appears to be the bigger issue.

 Early or limited evidence

31 women with PMS and 12 comparison women

## What they did

31 women with PMS and 12 comparison women without PMS tracked their symptoms across the menstrual cycle. Researchers compared baseline symptoms and premenstrual changes between groups.

## What they found

In the late follicular phase, women with PMS had significantly higher depression, anxiety, tension, and irritability than comparison women. Some premenstrual increases were larger in the PMS group, but not for anxiety, irritability, tension, or breast tenderness.

## What it means for you

Women with PMS may need year-round treatment for mood, not just premenstrual symptom relief. The study was small and did not test specific treatments.

31

Women with PMS

12

Comparison women

## About the study

Original title A prospective comparison study of premenstrual symptoms Authors Hart WG, Russell JW Journal The Medical journal of Australia Year 1986 Study design Cohort study Participants 31 What was tested None Read the paper [doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1986.tb101051.x](https://doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1986.tb101051.x)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Premenstrual exacerbation (PME)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pme/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)[Sleep and insomnia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sleep/)[Bloating, breast tenderness and physical symptoms](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-physical-symptoms/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

## Related studies

Randomised trial, 2020

Does progesterone therapy help premenstrual syndrome in women with PCOS?

Randomised trial, 2013

Does progesterone reduce PMS symptoms in women with polycystic ovary syndrome?

Study, 2026

What are premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder?

Randomised trial, 2018

Does swimming reduce premenstrual syndrome symptoms?

Survey study, 2013

Are menstrual symptoms common in middle-aged women and do they relate to hot flushes?

Randomised trial, 1995

Is paroxetine better than other antidepressants for treating severe PMS?

Ask AI about this page

Copy prompt

ChatGPT

↗

Claude

↗

Perplexity

↗

Google AI Mode

↗

Grok

↗