Review, 1983
What are the main problems in PMS research, and how should psychological symptoms be treated?
Research has major flaws like inconsistent definitions and biased data collection that make it hard to know which treatment works. There is no reliable way yet to predict whether behavioral therapy, medication, nutrition, or hormones will help each person.
What they did
Reviewed existing research on the psychological aspects of PMS and how they are studied and treated.
What they found
Identified five major methodologic problems: lack of consensus on what PMS is, use of biased retrospective reporting instead of tracking symptoms as they happen, sampling errors, failure to account for study bias, and poor timing of data collection. Treatment requires a personalized approach.
What it means for you
We need better research methods with stronger controls for placebo effects before we can confidently recommend which treatment works for which woman. This is a 1983 review, so the field has likely evolved since then.
About the study
- Original title
- Psychologic components of the premenstrual syndrome. Evaluating the research and choosing the treatment
- Authors
- Abplanalp JM
- Journal
- The Journal of reproductive medicine
- Year
- 1983
- Study design
- Review
- What was tested
- N/A
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6355466/
Topics
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