Guideline, 2002
What is the best way to diagnose premenstrual dysphoric disorder?
A three-step diagnostic process including phone screening, clinical interview, and daily symptom tracking over two menstrual cycles can accurately identify PMDD. Using this process, 4% of women tested had PMDD, matching rates reported in other studies.
What they did
Proposed and tested a three-step diagnostic procedure. Step 1: phone screening. Step 2: retrospective diagnosis using a structured clinical interview. Step 3: prospective diagnosis based on daily symptom ratings during two consecutive menstrual cycles.
What they found
Using the three-step diagnostic process, 4% of the women evaluated were confirmed to have PMDD. This prevalence rate matches what is reported in the medical literature.
What it means for you
Proper PMDD diagnosis requires tracking your symptoms day-by-day during your actual menstrual cycles, not just remembering symptoms or answering questions once. The link between symptoms and cycle timing is central to diagnosis. Main limitation: the total sample size is not stated in the abstract.
4%
of sample had PMDD
2
consecutive menstrual cycles tracked
3
steps in diagnostic process
About the study
- Original title
- [Premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Recommendation for diagnosis of a distinct affective clinical picture]
- Authors
- Schwärzler B, Hautzinger M
- Journal
- Der Nervenarzt
- Year
- 2002
- Study design
- Guideline
- What was tested
- None - diagnostic method study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s115-002-8149-z
Topics
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