Study, 1990
How much of PMS comes from your mind versus your body?
Psychological factors are important. After hysterectomy when women no longer had periods, their premenstrual symptoms dropped significantly, suggesting that psychological factors played a major role before surgery.
What they did
Researchers tracked 56 women for 3 months before they had surgery to remove their uterus (keeping their ovaries). They used daily checklists that mixed PMS symptoms with other symptoms to avoid biasing women's awareness. After surgery, starting 6 months later, they tracked symptoms again for 3 months and measured hormone levels.
What they found
After hysterectomy, when the women no longer had periods, levels of premenstrual symptoms fell significantly in the whole group.
What it means for you
Psychological factors like thinking about or expecting your period may contribute importantly to PMS symptoms. When there is no period to experience or anticipate, symptoms dropped. The main limit is it is unclear if this applies to women who do not have surgery.
56
women in study
3
months of tracking before surgery
3
months of tracking after surgery
About the study
- Original title
- Psychological and physical determinants of premenstrual symptoms before and after hysterectomy
- Authors
- Osborn MF, Gath DH
- Journal
- Psychological medicine
- Year
- 1990
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 56
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700017062
Topics
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