Study, 2012
Can daily symptom reports help measure PMS accurately?
Yes. A 20-item daily symptom questionnaire called the DSR-20 is reliable and can identify two types of PMS symptoms: psychological and physical. It clearly distinguishes women with PMS from those without.
What they did
The researchers tested a questionnaire that women filled out every day for three menstrual cycles. They included 140 women who were seeking treatment for PMS and 54 women who had no premenstrual symptoms. They examined how well the questionnaire measured symptoms and whether it could identify different types of PMS symptoms.
What they found
The 20 items in the questionnaire had very strong reliability. Two clear groups of symptoms appeared: psychological symptoms and physical symptoms. Women with PMS scored much higher on both groups of symptoms during the luteal phase compared to women without PMS. During the follicular phase (the first half of the cycle), there was no clear difference between the groups.
What it means for you
Daily symptom tracking can help doctors identify PMS and understand what type of symptoms you have. The study used women seeking treatment, so the results may not apply to all women with PMS.
140
women with PMS seeking treatment
54
women without PMS symptoms
3
menstrual cycles tracked
About the study
- Original title
- Reliability and component structure of the modified Daily Symptom Report (DSR-20)
- Authors
- Canning SE, Waterman MG, Simpson N et al.
- Journal
- Journal of affective disorders
- Year
- 2012
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- Daily Symptom Report questionnaire (DSR-20)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.10.021
Topics
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