Survey study, 1995
Do some women report having PMS when they don't actually have it?
Some women reported high typical PMS symptoms but their actual daily symptom tracking showed no clear pattern. These women tended to have more negative feelings overall, though the effect was small.
What they did
121 women filled out a questionnaire about their typical PMS symptoms, then rated their actual symptoms daily for one menstrual cycle. They also completed a questionnaire measuring their general positive and negative feelings.
What they found
A clear group of women reported high typical PMS symptoms on the questionnaire, but when tracked daily over their cycle, their actual symptoms showed no strong patterns. This group also reported higher negative feelings overall, though the difference was small.
What it means for you
For some women, the label 'PMS' and a general tendency to think negatively may shape how much they believe their symptoms bother them, separate from actual symptoms. Providers should use daily symptom tracking plus questionnaires to diagnose PMS accurately. This study only tracked one cycle.
121
Women studied
1
Menstrual cycle tracked
5
Week observation period
About the study
- Original title
- Contribution of generalized negative affect to elevated menstrual cycle symptom reporting
- Authors
- van den Akker O, Sharifian N, Packer A et al.
- Journal
- Health care for women international
- Year
- 1995
- Study design
- Survey study
- What was tested
- None - observational study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/07399339509516177
Topics
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