Survey study, 1994
How many different ways do researchers measure PMS in clinical trials?
Researchers use many different measurement tools across studies. 65 different questionnaires were found in 350 trials of PMS drugs, making it hard to compare whether treatments actually work.
What they did
They searched for all published clinical trials of PMS drugs, collected all the measurement scales and questionnaires used in those trials, and analyzed what symptoms each one tracked.
What they found
350 clinical trials of 115 different drugs used 65 different questionnaires. The most commonly tracked symptoms were irritability (included in 44 questionnaires), headache or migraine (40), depression (37), tearfulness (34), tension (31), anxiety (31), breast tenderness (31), and mood swings (30).
What it means for you
Because so many different tools are used to measure PMS, researchers cannot easily compare whether a treatment works in one study versus another. This weakens PMS research overall. Regulatory authorities should agree on which measurement tools to use.
350
clinical trials reviewed
115
different drugs tested
65
different measurement questionnaires
About the study
- Original title
- Clinical trials of treatments of premenstrual syndrome: entry criteria and scales for measuring treatment outcomes
- Authors
- Budeiri DJ, Li Wan Po A, Dornan JC
- Journal
- British journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
- Year
- 1994
- Study design
- Survey study
- What was tested
- None - this reviewed research methodology
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1994.tb13186.x
Topics
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