Survey study, 2007
How common and how recognised is PMDD among young women?
In this small study of Croatian students, 15 out of 87 women had PMDD, suggesting it may be more common than usually recognised, but this is from one small sample so it cannot tell us the true rate everywhere.
What they did
Researchers studied 87 healthy women aged 18-30 in Croatia, seen at regular gynecology visits between 2003 and 2004. Each woman tracked her symptoms daily for two menstrual cycles using a symptom diary (the Daily Record of Severity of Problems), and the results were checked against the official DSM-IV criteria for PMDD.
What they found
15 of the 87 women (about 1 in 6) met the criteria for PMDD. Women with PMDD were statistically significantly more likely to have other medical or psychiatric conditions in their history than women without PMDD. The PMDD group mostly reported psychological symptoms, while the non-PMDD group mostly reported physical (vegetative) symptoms.
What it means for you
PMDD may be under-diagnosed in young women, and it often comes with other health issues. The study is small, from one country, and has no comparison to a different diagnostic method or treatment, so the findings are only a starting point for further research.
15 of 87
Women with PMDD
18-30
Age range
2
Cycles tracked
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder--a neglected diagnosis? Preliminary study on a sample of Croatian students
- Authors
- Rojnić Kuzman M, Hotujac L
- Journal
- Collegium antropologicum
- Year
- 2007
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 87
- What was tested
- No treatment tested; this was a diagnostic/prevalence study using daily symptom tracking
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17598391/
Topics
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