Study, 1997
Does the time of the menstrual cycle affect how women answer questions about mood?
No. Women's answers about mood symptoms are just as reliable and consistent regardless of where they are in their menstrual cycle. All women scored higher than men overall, but cycle phase didn't change this.
What they did
Compared symptom ratings from 1769 women (368 premenstrual, 458 during menstruation, and 943 postmenstrual) and 2265 men from an Israeli population study. They measured how consistently women answered questions and whether symptom scores differed by cycle phase.
What they found
There were no differences in how reliably women answered questions based on their menstrual cycle phase. There were no differences in symptom scores between the three female groups. All female groups scored higher than men, regardless of cycle phase.
What it means for you
When studying women's mood symptoms in research, you don't need to exclude women or adjust for their cycle phase. Their answers are equally reliable at any time. These findings may not apply specifically to studies of PMDD or drug treatments.
1769
women in study
2265
men in study
About the study
- Original title
- In menstrual cycle stage a confounder in population-based psychiatric research?
- Authors
- Schwartz S, Lincoln A, Levav I
- Journal
- Psychological medicine
- Year
- 1997
- Study design
- Study
- Participants
- 1,769
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1017/s003329179700514x
Topics
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