Non-randomised trial, 1995
Do women with PMS have memory or attention problems?
Women with PMS showed difficulty retrieving information from memory compared to controls, independent of which phase of the cycle they were tested in. The effect was mild and the sample was small.
What they did
Non-randomized study of 19 women with prospectively documented PMS and 17 control women. Both groups had memory and attention testing during late luteal and follicular phases. Hormone levels and mood were measured on testing days for 23 of the women.
What they found
Women with PMS showed significant differences on recall tests (retrieving learned information) but not on recognition tests (identifying previously seen information). No differences were found in nonverbal memory, attention, or other thinking measures. The memory problem did not depend on which cycle phase testing occurred.
What it means for you
Women with PMS may have mild difficulty retrieving learned information from memory, while learning and recognizing new information appears intact. The effect is independent of cycle phase. The sample is small and the clinical importance is unclear.
19
women with PMS
17
control women
About the study
- Original title
- Menstrual phase-independent retrieval deficit in women with PMS
- Authors
- Keenan PA, Lindamer LA, Jong SK
- Journal
- Biological psychiatry
- Year
- 1995
- Study design
- Non-randomised trial
- Participants
- 23
- What was tested
- None - memory testing study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(94)00303-k
Topics
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