Cohort study, 1986
How common are symptoms around menstruation?
Very common. Women showed a clear pattern of worsening health just before their period, with symptoms peaking at the start of menstruation and improving during it.
What they did
Survey of 1386 randomly selected women aged 20 to 40. They tracked symptoms over 6 weeks using daily recording during the study and a retrospective questionnaire at the end. 608 women menstruated during the study period.
What they found
A clear pattern emerged of premenstrual decline in perceived health that worsened until menstruation began, then improved rapidly during menstruation. The overall pattern was similar with both assessment methods, but individual women's day-to-day records often differed from their later recall.
What it means for you
Premenstrual symptoms follow a real, predictable pattern linked to the menstrual cycle. However, how we remember our symptoms later differs from how we felt day-to-day. This matters for understanding how PMS is reported and measured.
1386
women randomly selected
608
who menstruated during study
6 weeks
study duration
About the study
- Original title
- A survey of paramenstrual complaints by covert and by overt methods
- Authors
- Taylor RJ, Alexander DA, Fordyce ID
- Journal
- The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
- Year
- 1986
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 1,386
- What was tested
- None - observational study
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3656263/