---
title: Are women more likely to need psychiatric hospital admission during certain phases of the menstrual cycle?
description: Yes. 47% of psychiatric emergency admissions occurred during the para-menstrual phase (the 4-5 days before and during the start of menses), compared with 22%
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/menstrual-cycle-phase-and-psychiatric-admissions-1991/
---

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- Are women more likely to need psychiatric hospital admission during certain phases of the menstrual cycle?

Survey study, 1991

# Are women more likely to need psychiatric hospital admission during certain phases of the menstrual cycle?

Yes. 47% of psychiatric emergency admissions occurred during the para-menstrual phase (the 4-5 days before and during the start of menses), compared with 22% of hospital staff. This suggests menstrual cycle changes can worsen psychiatric symptoms in vulnerable women.

 Early or limited evidence

51 women admitted to hospital for psychiatric emergencies and 113 hospital staff controls

## What they did

Researchers assessed menstrual cycle phase in 51 women admitted to hospital for psychiatric emergencies. They compared this to 113 hospital staff members who were assessed at a random time when they arrived at work.

## What they found

47% of psychiatric admissions occurred during the para-menstrual phase, versus 22% of staff controls. Within the admission group, 33.3% of admissions occurred within 4 days of the start of menses. No clear differences appeared between women with different diagnoses, between suicidal and non-suicidal women, or with depression severity scores.

## What it means for you

Late menstrual cycle changes can worsen psychiatric symptoms in vulnerable women. The menstrual cycle phase alone did not determine how severe symptoms were, suggesting other factors are important too. The study was done in one hospital.

47%

admissions in para-menstrual phase (vs 22% controls)

33.3%

admissions within 4 days of menses start

## About the study

Original title Menstrual cycle phase and psychiatric admissions Authors Targum SD, Caputo KP, Ball SK Journal Journal of affective disorders Year 1991 Study design Survey study Participants 51 What was tested None (observational) Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/0165-0327(91)90083-5](https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-0327(91)90083-5)

## Topics

[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Suicidality](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-suicidality/)[Major depressive disorder](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-major-depression/)[Schizophrenia and psychosis](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-psychosis/)

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