Survey study, 2016
Can we reliably measure how much PMS interferes with a woman's daily life?
Yes. Researchers created an 18-item questionnaire that reliably measures both emotional and daily life effects of PMS, with good reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.90 for both subscales) confirmed in 101 women.
What they did
101 German women with severe premenstrual complaints completed a 22-item questionnaire during their premenstrual phase. Researchers tested whether the questionnaire was reliable, what factors it measured, and whether it measured PMS impact rather than other personality traits.
What they found
18 of the 22 items grouped into two subscales: Psychological Impact and Functional Impact. Both subscales showed Cronbach's alpha of 0.90, indicating good reliability. The questionnaire showed moderate to high correlation with pain disability measures (supporting its validity) and low correlation with personality measures.
What it means for you
We now have a reliable tool to measure how much PMS affects emotions and daily functioning, which could help doctors diagnose and monitor PMS better. The main limitation is that this is a small validation study that needs confirmation in other populations and larger samples.
101
women with severe premenstrual complaints
18
final questionnaire items
0.90
Cronbach's alpha (reliability)
About the study
- Original title
- How to measure the impact of premenstrual symptoms? Development and validation of the German PMS-Impact Questionnaire
- Authors
- Kues JN, Janda C, Kleinstäuber M et al.
- Journal
- Women & health
- Year
- 2016
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 101
- What was tested
- PMS-Impact Questionnaire validation
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2015.1118734
Topics
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