--- title: Do PMS symptoms differ by race and ethnicity? | Niyora description: Yes. Chinese women reported significantly fewer PMS symptoms than Caucasian and African-American women in this study, particularly fewer mood changes and pain url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/premenstrual-distress-among-caucasian-african-american-and-chinese-women-2014/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do PMS symptoms differ by race and ethnicity? Survey study, 2014 # Do PMS symptoms differ by race and ethnicity? Yes. Chinese women reported significantly fewer PMS symptoms than Caucasian and African-American women in this study, particularly fewer mood changes and pain. Moderate study design 700 women aged 20 to 55 (327 Chinese, 193 African-American, 180 Caucasian) ## What they did Surveyed 700 women about their PMS symptoms. The group included 327 Chinese women in Hong Kong, 193 African-American women, and 180 Caucasian women in the US, all aged 20 to 55. ## What they found Race and ethnicity predicted PMS symptoms significantly. Chinese women reported fewer overall premenstrual distress symptoms than the other groups. Race explained about 5 percent of the difference in pain symptoms and nearly 19 percent of the difference in mood and arousal symptoms. ## What it means for you PMS symptom patterns vary by race and ethnicity, which could be due to genetics, environment, or cultural differences in how symptoms are understood and reported. The study only included women in the US and Hong Kong, so these findings may not apply to other regions. 700 women surveyed 5% variance in pain symptoms explained by race 19% variance in mood symptoms explained by race ## About the study Original title Premenstrual Distress among Caucasian, African-American and Chinese Women Authors Cindy Davis Journal Journal of Women s Health Care Year 2014 Study design Survey study Participants 700 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.4172/2167-0420.1000181](https://doi.org/10.4172/2167-0420.1000181) Original abstract While clinical research on Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) has focused mainly on women’s prevalence and symptomology in the west, PMS is a disorder that affects women of many cultures. A limited number of cross-cultural studies have compared the western experience of PMS with that of other cultures and have found that the prevalence of specific symptoms varies amongst cultures. Given the lack of research on PMS across cultures, this study explores the symptoms of PMS in Caucasian and African-American women in the US and Chinese women in Hong Kong and the differences and/or similarities among these groups. This research study utilized a quantitative survey research design with a convenience sample of 700 women (193 African-American, 180 Caucasian and 327 Chinese) aged between 20 to 55 years in both the US and Hong Kong. It was found that race/ethnicity significantly contributes to the prediction of each symptom subscale with the exception of the autonomic symptoms. The amount of variance in symptoms that can be explained by race/ethnicity ranges from about 5% (for pain symptoms) to almost 19% (for arousal symptoms). In general, the Chinese participants reported significantly fewer premenstrual distress symptoms than African-American and Caucasian participants. The results suggest this is true in the case of pain-related symptoms and concentrationrelated symptoms. In addition, compared to the Caucasian and African-American participants, the Chinese participants reported significantly lower levels of affective symptoms. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Systematic review, 2025 Does teaching adolescent girls about their menstrual cycle and health help reduce period pain and PMS? Survey study, 2011 What premenstrual symptoms do women experience around the world and how much do they affect daily life? Survey study, 2025 How common is PMS among women in urban Pakistan? Survey study, 2023 What factors make premenstrual syndrome worse in nursing students? Survey study, 2023 What factors make PMS worse in college students? Survey study, 2016 How do women use complementary and alternative medicine for menstrual pain? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗