Cohort study, 2011
Do women with bipolar disorder who have premenstrual mood changes do worse than those without?
Yes. Among women with bipolar disorder, those with premenstrual mood changes had significantly more severe symptoms, relapsed faster, and had a worse course than those without premenstrual changes.
What they did
One-year follow-up study of women with bipolar disorder. Of 932 women in the STEP-BD program aged 18-40, 293 were followed after excluding those with gynecological surgery. Participants were asked if they currently experience depression symptoms or mood swings around their menstrual period. 191 women said yes (premenstrual exacerbation) and 102 said no. Both groups were followed for one year.
What they found
Women with premenstrual exacerbation had shorter time to relapse to subsyndromal episodes (about half the time compared to those without premenstrual exacerbation). They also had more severe depressive and mood elevation symptoms during the one-year follow-up, indicating greater symptom burden. Time to relapse to full syndrome episodes did not differ between groups.
What it means for you
Among women with bipolar disorder, noticing mood changes before menstruation may signal that bipolar symptoms will be more severe and harder to control. This could help doctors identify which women need more intensive treatment. However, this finding applies only to women with bipolar disorder, not to women with general PMS.
293
women with bipolar disorder
191
with premenstrual mood exacerbation
1 year
duration of follow-up
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual Mood Exacerbation Linked to Severe Bipolar Symptoms
- Authors
- Mark Moran
- Journal
- Psychiatric News
- Year
- 2011
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 293
- What was tested
- None - observational follow-up study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1176/pn.46.6.psychnews_46_6_17_2
Topics
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