Survey study, 2019
Does PMS make quality of life worse around your period compared to painful periods alone?
Yes. Women with painful periods had lower quality of life around menstruation whether or not they also had PMS, but those with PMS scored a bit lower during that time.
What they did
Researchers studied 52 female university students in Tabriz, Iran, aged 18-30, who had moderate or severe painful periods and also had PMS (another 64 had painful periods without PMS). Each woman rated her quality of life twice: once on days 3-4 of her cycle (around menstruation) and once on days 11-12 (late follicular phase, before ovulation), using a standard quality of life questionnaire.
What they found
In the PMS group, quality of life scores dropped from 79 in the late follicular phase to 48 around menstruation (a drop of 31 points). In the non-PMS group, scores dropped from 78 to 56 (confidence interval -27 to -18, so a real but smaller drop). During menstrual-period days, the PMS group scored 8 points lower than the non-PMS group. There was almost no difference between the groups during the late follicular phase.
What it means for you
Painful periods lower quality of life around menstruation regardless of PMS, but PMS adds a further small reduction during that perimenstrual week. The study only looked at young, single university students in one city, had no treatment or control comparison, and was a one-time observational snapshot, so it cannot show cause and effect or apply broadly to all women.
79 vs 48
Quality of life, PMS group: late follicular vs perimenstrual
78 vs 56
Quality of life, non-PMS group: late follicular vs perimenstrual
-8 points
Difference between groups during perimenstrual week
About the study
- Original title
- Primary dysmenorrhea with and without premenstrual syndrome: variation in quality of life over menstrual phases
- Authors
- Quick F, Mohammad-Alizadeh-Charandabi S, Mirghafourvand M
- Journal
- Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation
- Year
- 2019
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 52
- What was tested
- None tested; this was an observational comparison of quality of life across two points in the menstrual cycle
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s11136-018-1999-9
Topics
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