Cohort study, 2011
How common are PMS and PMDD in teenage girls, and what causes them?
PMS is very common, affecting 76% of teenage girls in this study. PMDD affected 4%. Living in a large city increased risk, but being sexually active, physically active, or differences in socioeconomic status made no difference.
What they did
Population-based cohort study in Poland. Adolescent girls aged 16-19 were randomly recruited from public records in the Upper Silesia region. They completed a questionnaire about health, reproductive history, and premenstrual symptoms using standard diagnostic criteria, and kept daily records of symptoms.
What they found
Among 72 girls, 76.39% met criteria for PMS and 4.17% met criteria for PMDD. Living in a large city (more than 50,000 residents) increased the odds of PMS 3.58 times (P equals 0.01). Physical activity, sexual activity, and socioeconomic status were not associated with PMS or PMDD.
What it means for you
PMS is extremely common in teenage girls, while PMDD is rare. Urban girls appear more vulnerable to PMS than rural girls, but the study cannot explain why. Results are limited because only 72 girls were included in final analysis (a small portion of the 2500 originally invited) and only Polish girls were studied.
76.39%
Adolescent girls with PMS
4.17%
Adolescent girls with PMDD
3.58
Increased odds of PMS for urban living
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual disorders in Polish adolescent girls: prevalence and risk factors
- Authors
- Drosdzol A, Nowosielski K, Skrzypulec V et al.
- Journal
- The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
- Year
- 2011
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 2,500
- What was tested
- None (observational study).
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0756.2010.01505.x
Topics
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