Cohort study, 2013
If a woman has bad symptoms before her period, does she also have more symptoms in early pregnancy?
Yes, women with worse premenstrual symptoms, especially irritability, also had more symptoms in early pregnancy (weeks 10-12), suggesting that some women may be sensitive to hormonal changes across reproductive phases.
What they did
306 pregnant women were asked to recall how severe their psychological and physical symptoms were during premenstrual phases in the year before pregnancy. These same women then rated the severity of the same symptoms during early pregnancy at weeks 10-12 of gestation.
What they found
Overall premenstrual symptom severity was significantly linked to early pregnancy symptom severity (b = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.3-0.5, p < 0.001). Premenstrual irritability was the strongest predictor of overall early pregnancy symptoms. For individual symptoms, the matching premenstrual symptom was usually the best predictor of that same symptom during pregnancy.
What it means for you
Some women may be particularly sensitive to hormonal changes during different reproductive phases, including before the period and in early pregnancy. Knowing a woman's premenstrual symptoms might help doctors predict and prepare for her symptoms during pregnancy. However, the study relied on women remembering their premenstrual symptoms from up to a year earlier, which may not be fully accurate.
306
pregnant women studied
0.4
association strength (95% CI: 0.3-0.5)
10-12
weeks of pregnancy assessed
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual symptoms are associated with psychological and physical symptoms in early pregnancy
- Authors
- Winkel S, Einsle F, Wittchen HU et al.
- Journal
- Archives of women's mental health
- Year
- 2013
- Study design
- Cohort study
- Participants
- 306
- What was tested
- None (prospective observational study)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0322-y
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