Cohort study, 1985
Is PMS connected to mood disorders like depression, and how should it be studied?
This review argues PMS does seem related to major mood (affective) disorders, but says much past research has been flawed, and that tracking symptoms day-by-day as they happen gives more reliable answers than asking women to recall them later.
What they did
This is a discussion/review paper, not a new experiment on patients. It looks at problems in how past PMS research was designed and argues for clearer definitions of PMS and better study methods.
What they found
The paper found that research tracking symptoms in real time (prospectively) links symptoms to the menstrual cycle better than asking people to remember symptoms afterward (retrospectively). It also found an apparent relationship between PMS and major affective disorders, and noted the importance of separating new premenstrual symptoms from the worsening of symptoms that are present all month.
What it means for you
This paper gives no treatment advice and reports no patient numbers; it is a call for better-designed research rather than evidence about any specific remedy.
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual syndromes: past and future research strategies
- Authors
- Rubinow DR, Hoban C, Roy-Byrne P et al.
- Journal
- Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie
- Year
- 1985
- Study design
- Cohort study
- What was tested
- None tested; this is a methods and research-strategy discussion.
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1177/070674378503000703
Topics
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