Cohort study, 2020
Do schizophrenia symptoms change across the menstrual cycle?
Yes, schizophrenia symptoms significantly vary across different phases of the menstrual cycle. Positive symptoms improved during the progesterone phase, while negative symptoms and general psychopathology improved during the estrogen phases.
What they did
A cohort study of 40 female inpatients with schizophrenia at a psychiatric hospital. Researchers assessed their symptoms using the PANSS scale across three different menstrual cycle phases (premenstrual, menstrual, and postmenstrual) over a period of 15 months, tracking up to two menstrual cycles per person.
What they found
Positive symptoms improved significantly only during the progesterone phase. Negative symptoms and general psychopathology scores showed improvement during the estrogen phases of the menstrual cycle.
What it means for you
Hormone changes during the menstrual cycle may affect schizophrenia symptoms in women, suggesting that treatment may need to be adjusted for individual women. This study included only hospitalized patients, so findings may not apply to women with schizophrenia living in the community.
40
women with schizophrenia
15 months
study duration
3
menstrual cycle phases assessed
About the study
- Original title
- Change of symptoms of schizophrenia across phases of menstrual cycle
- Authors
- Ray P, Mandal N, Sinha VK
- Journal
- Archives of women's mental health
- Year
- 2020
- Study design
- Cohort study
- What was tested
- Observational study with no intervention
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s00737-019-0952-4
Topics
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