Survey study, 1989
Do women with PMS experience more pain if their family members had pain problems?
Yes, for women with PMS. Those who had more family members with pain problems reported more frequent pain themselves, but this link was not seen in women without PMS.
What they did
11 women with PMS and 10 women without PMS filled out a questionnaire about pain. The questionnaire included questions about whether their father, mother, or siblings had pain problems. Researchers looked at whether women who had more family members with pain problems reported more frequent pain themselves.
What they found
For women with PMS, there was a clear link between the number of family members with pain problems and how often the woman reported experiencing pain. This link did not appear in women without PMS. Different family members (father, mother, or sibling) may have had different importance in this connection.
What it means for you
Women with PMS may learn to experience or report more pain if they see family members with pain problems, though these findings are tentative. The main limits are the very small sample (only 11 PMS women and 10 controls) and it was studied in one location.
11
women with PMS
10
women without PMS
About the study
- Original title
- The Role of Familial Pain Models in Premenstrual Symptomatology
- Authors
- Andrzej R. Kuczmierczyk, Patrick W. Edwards
- Journal
- Scandinavian Journal of Behaviour Therapy
- Year
- 1989
- Study design
- Survey study
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/16506078909455849
Topics
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