---
title: Do women with PMDD have different symptom patterns, and do some patterns cause more problems?
description: Yes. Six distinct symptom patterns were identified: depressed mood, body symptoms, irritability, breast sensitivity, pain, and eating behavior changes. Body/s
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/clusters-of-premenstrual-symptoms-in-women-with-pmdd-appearance-stability-and-2018/
---

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- Do women with PMDD have different symptom patterns, and do some patterns cause more problems?

Cohort study, 2018

# Do women with PMDD have different symptom patterns, and do some patterns cause more problems?

Yes. Six distinct symptom patterns were identified: depressed mood, body symptoms, irritability, breast sensitivity, pain, and eating behavior changes. Body/somatic symptoms were most strongly linked to problems at work and in relationships.

 Moderate study design

Women prospectively diagnosed with severe PMS or PMDD (number of individual women unclear from abstract)

## What they did

Prospective analysis of 174 symptom diaries from women diagnosed with severe PMS or PMDD. Researchers used factor analysis to identify natural groupings of symptoms. They tracked how stable these patterns were across menstrual cycles and analyzed which patterns predicted problems at work, in relationships, and in leisure activities.

## What they found

Six symptom clusters were identified: affective dysphoria (mood changes), somatic dysphoria (body symptoms), irritability, breast/body sensitivity, pain, and eating behavior. These clusters were generally stable across consecutive cycles (except pain and eating behavior). Body/somatic symptoms were most strongly associated with work, relationship, and leisure impairment.

## What it means for you

PMDD is not one uniform condition but several different symptom patterns. Treatment should be tailored to each woman's pattern rather than one-size-fits-all. Body and somatic symptoms deserve special attention because they cause the most impairment at work and in relationships. However, the abstract does not clearly state how many individual women these 174 diaries represent.

174

Symptom diaries analyzed

6

Distinct symptom clusters identified

0.83 to 0.91

Cronbach's alpha for most clusters

## About the study

Original title Clusters of premenstrual symptoms in women with PMDD: Appearance, stability and association with impairment Authors Kaiser G, Janda C, Kleinstäuber M et al. Journal Journal of psychosomatic research Year 2018 Study design Cohort study What was tested None Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.10.004](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.10.004)

## 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/)[Appetite and food cravings](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-food-cravings/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Quality of life and daily functioning](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-quality-of-life/)

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

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Randomised trial, 2021

Does hypnotherapy reduce pain and emotional distress in women with PMDD?

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