Case-control study, 1998
Do women with PMS get hot flashes?
Most women with PMS experience episodes like hot flashes. They happen about 5.6 times per cycle on average, much more often than in women without cycle-related symptoms.
What they did
This was an observational study where researchers compared women with different types of menstrual symptoms. They studied 157 women with PMS, 27 with other menstrual symptoms, and 58 without menstrual symptoms. Over one cycle, they recorded how often women had episodes of chills and sweats using a symptom calendar. They also asked women to describe these episodes in detail.
What they found
83.4% of women with PMS reported at least one episode of chills and sweats per cycle, with an average of 5.6 episodes. Women with chronic symptoms had 9.5 episodes on average, while control women had only 1.2 episodes. The episodes were related to the severity of other menstrual symptoms.
What it means for you
Hot-flash-like symptoms are common in women with PMS. These episodes seem linked to how severe other menstrual symptoms are. A main limitation is that information about when these symptoms happened came partly from women remembering past episodes rather than recording them at the time.
83.4%
Women with PMS who had hot flashes
5.6
Average episodes per cycle in PMS group
1.2
Average episodes per cycle in control group
About the study
- Original title
- Menopausal-like hot flashes reported in women of reproductive age
- Authors
- Hahn PM, Wong J, Reid RL
- Journal
- Fertility and sterility
- Year
- 1998
- Study design
- Case-control study
- Participants
- 157
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/s0015-0282(98)00281-7
Topics
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