Cohort study, 1995
Is premenstrual and menstrual depression linked to pain and menstrual bleeding?
Premenstrual and menstrual depression is strongly associated with pain during these times, though the relationship with bleeding is weaker. It remains unclear whether depression makes pain feel worse, pain triggers depression, or another factor causes both.
What they did
210 women attending a PMS clinic recorded daily ratings of depression, pain, and menstrual blood loss. Researchers analyzed these ratings along with each woman's past history of treated depression to look for relationships between these variables.
What they found
Severity and duration of perimenstrual depression was strongly associated with the severity of premenstrual and menstrual pain. A relationship between depression and subjective reports of blood loss was observed but was less marked than the relationship with pain. A relationship between past history of treated depression and current premenstrual depression that had been found in an earlier retrospective study was not found in this prospective study.
What it means for you
Perimenstrual depression and pain are linked, but we do not know which causes which or if they share an underlying cause. A main limitation is that this is an associational study that cannot prove causation.
210
women studied
About the study
- Original title
- Perimenstrual depression: its relationship to pain, bleeding, and previous history of depression
- Authors
- Bancroft J, Rennie D
- Journal
- Psychosomatic medicine
- Year
- 1995
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 210
- What was tested
- None, observational study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199509000-00006
Topics
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