Survey study, 2008
Do severe physical symptoms during the menstrual cycle mean a woman will also have worse mood problems?
No. Women with severe physical symptoms in the late menstrual cycle phase did not have worse overall psychological symptoms than those without physical symptoms. Only one psychological measure (interpersonal sensitivity) differed.
What they did
Cross-sectional study of 63 healthy women without PMDD. They recorded physical symptoms every night for three menstrual cycles using the PRISM calendar. On three specific days they also completed psychological questionnaires. Women were divided into groups based on whether physical symptoms increased by at least 66% from the early follicular phase to late luteal phase.
What they found
Most psychological measures did not differ between women with severe physical symptoms and those without. There was a significant difference only in interpersonal sensitivity, a measure of difficulty with relationships.
What it means for you
Severe physical symptoms in the late menstrual cycle don't necessarily mean a woman will have worse mood or psychological symptoms. Physical and psychological symptoms may be separate phenomena. The study was limited to healthy women without PMDD, so results may not apply to women with diagnosed PMDD.
63
women studied
3
consecutive menstrual cycles tracked
66%
increase in physical symptoms from early to late cycle
About the study
- Original title
- Mood parameters and severe physical symptoms of the female reproductive cycle
- Authors
- Gonda X, Lazáry J, Telek T et al.
- Journal
- Neuropsychopharmacologia Hungarica : a Magyar Pszichofarmakologiai Egyesulet lapja = official journal of the Hungarian Association of Psychopharmacology
- Year
- 2008
- Study design
- Survey study
- What was tested
- None - observational tracking
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18959140/
Topics
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