Survey study, 2018
How many women actually have PMS when carefully tracked?
When women remembered their symptoms from the last three cycles, 62.57% reported three or more symptoms. When carefully tracked with daily diaries, only 4.05% actually met criteria for PMS.
What they did
Researchers surveyed 247 women of reproductive age about menstrual symptoms. They first asked women to recall symptoms from previous cycles. They then tracked 155 of these women using daily diaries and proper diagnostic tools. Researchers also looked at how age, location, marital status, number of children, education, and job type related to symptoms.
What they found
When asked to remember symptoms, 155 out of 247 (62.57%) reported three or more symptoms during the later part of the menstrual cycle in the last three cycles. When carefully tracked with daily diaries, only 4.05% met PMS criteria. Among women with symptoms, 149 reported at least one psychological symptom. The most common psychological symptom was irritability, which was linked to education level, type of work, and whether women had children. Mood swings were more common in women doing mental work.
What it means for you
Memory is unreliable for diagnosing PMS. Many more women think they have PMS when asked to remember than actually have it when tracked carefully. This shows that proper daily tracking is needed to diagnose PMS. The study shows links between psychological symptoms and social factors like work type and education, but it does not show that these factors cause PMS.
62.57%
Reported 3+ symptoms from memory
4.05%
Met PMS criteria with daily tracking
247
Women surveyed
About the study
- Original title
- Sociodemographic Correlates of Psychological Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome
- Authors
- Baljit Jassal, Rakesh Kumar, Jagminder Kaur Bajaj
- Journal
- International Journal of Medical and Dental Sciences
- Year
- 2018
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 247
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.18311/ijmds/2018/18912
Topics
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