Cohort study, 2026
What life and psychological factors are linked to PMS and PMDD?
Both are linked to smoking, childhood trauma, poor mental health, and poor work-life balance. PMDD is also linked to being married with children. PMS is linked to alcohol use.
What they did
A prospective cohort study of 7227 people using a menstrual tracking app. Participants were classified into control, PMS, or PMDD groups based on a screening tool. Researchers examined links between background factors like age and smoking, psychosocial factors like stress and sleep quality, and menstrual patterns.
What they found
23 percent met PMS criteria and 10 percent met PMDD criteria. Both groups were younger, more likely to smoke (current or past), had more adverse childhood experiences, lower health literacy, and higher maladaptive coping. Both reported higher psychological distress, poor sleep quality, and negative work-home balance compared to controls. PMDD was additionally linked to being married and living with children. PMS was additionally linked to alcohol use. Menstrual symptom burden was greater in both groups despite similar rates of irregular cycles.
What it means for you
Premenstrual disorders involve many life stressors and psychological difficulties, not just hormonal factors. This suggests treatment should address the whole person using multiple approaches. Study limitations include recruitment through an app which may not represent the general population and reliance on self-reported data.
7227
Participants surveyed
23%
Met PMS criteria
10%
Met PMDD criteria
About the study
- Original title
- Psychosocial and menstrual correlates of premenstrual disorders: A community-based study
- Authors
- Itoi S, Sampei M, Tatsumi T et al.
- Journal
- International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics
- Year
- 2026
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 7,227
- What was tested
- None (observational cohort)
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.70752
Topics
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