Interview study, 2022
Can a new 33-item questionnaire reliably measure premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) symptoms?
Yes, this new screening tool shows strong reliability and validity for measuring PMDD symptoms and can categorize women by severity. It could help doctors diagnose PMDD faster when they have time constraints, though it has only been tested on one type of population so far.
What they did
Researchers developed a 33-item retrospective questionnaire to measure PMDD symptoms based on official DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. They tested it on 331 women whose symptoms ranged from none to PMDD-level severity. The tool measured both the presence of symptoms and their impact on daily life.
What they found
The tool identified five main symptom groups: mood symptoms, fatigue and sleep problems, symptom frequency, physical symptoms and appetite changes, and difficulty concentrating. It showed high internal consistency and strong correlations with other existing premenstrual symptom measures. Women could be divided into three symptom severity categories (minimal, mild/moderate, severe) that differed on other measurement scales. The tool showed good validity and was not biased.
What it means for you
This new screening tool can reliably measure PMDD symptoms and help doctors identify PMDD more quickly than daily symptom tracking methods. The main limitation is that the tool has been tested on a limited population so far, so we need to see how well it works in more diverse groups.
331
women tested
33
items in screening tool
5
symptom factor groups
About the study
- Original title
- Psychometric Properties of a DSM-5-Based Screening Tool for Women's Perceptions of Premenstrual Symptoms
- Authors
- Richards MA, Oinonen KA
- Journal
- Psychological reports
- Year
- 2022
- Study design
- Interview study
- Participants
- 331
- What was tested
- PMDD screening tool
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1177/0033294120979696
Topics
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