Cohort study, 1990
How many women seeking treatment for premenstrual symptoms actually have confirmed PMS?
Only 20% of 79 women seeking treatment met criteria for confirmed PMS based on 2 months of daily tracking. However, 81% of those with confirmed PMS reported that symptoms no longer interfered with their functioning after the evaluation period.
What they did
Prospective study. Seventy-nine women seeking treatment for severe premenstrual symptoms completed structured interviews, psychological tests, and 2 months of daily symptom tracking. Weekly group meetings were held to encourage daily tracking.
What they found
Only 20% had prospectively confirmed premenstrual syndrome. Of the women with confirmed PMS, 81% reported after the study that symptoms no longer interfered with functioning.
What it means for you
Many women think they have PMS when daily tracking shows they do not. Once women with confirmed PMS track symptoms systematically for 2 months, most report improved functioning. Main limitation is the study included only women seeking treatment in urban settings who were mostly educated and highly functioning.
79
women seeking treatment
20%
with confirmed PMS
81% improved
of confirmed cases
About the study
- Original title
- Issues in the identification of premenstrual syndromes
- Authors
- Gise LH, Lebovits AH, Paddison PL et al.
- Journal
- The Journal of nervous and mental disease
- Year
- 1990
- Study design
- Cohort study
- What was tested
- Daily symptom tracking for 2 months with structured assessment
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199004000-00002