Survey study, 2007
Is there a link between postnatal depression and premenstrual symptoms?
No. Only one woman showed both conditions, and there was no association between postnatal distress and psychological symptoms in this study.
What they did
Cross-sectional study. 63 women completed a daily menstrual symptom diary for two consecutive months. Their postnatal depression scores from 1-3 years earlier were obtained from their health visitor.
What they found
Only 1 of 63 participants showed both postnatal and premenstrual distress when using the EPDS cutoff of >12. When treated as continuous scores, there was no association between postnatal distress and psychological premenstrual symptoms and only a trend toward significance with physical premenstrual symptoms.
What it means for you
The common belief that postnatal depression causes PMS may not be true. The main limitation is the small sample and unclear response rate from the recruitment method.
63
women in study
1
with both postnatal and premenstrual distress
2
consecutive months of daily diary
About the study
- Original title
- Is there evidence of an association between postnatal distress and premenstrual symptoms?
- Authors
- Haywood A, Slade P, King H
- Journal
- Journal of affective disorders
- Year
- 2007
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 63
- What was tested
- None - observational study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2006.08.024
Topics
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