---
title: Can daily symptom reports help measure PMS accurately? | Niyora
description: Yes. A 20-item daily symptom questionnaire called the DSR-20 is reliable and can identify two types of PMS symptoms: psychological and physical. It clearly di
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/reliability-and-component-structure-of-the-modified-daily-symptom-report-dsr-20-2012/
---

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- Can daily symptom reports help measure PMS accurately?

Study, 2012

# Can daily symptom reports help measure PMS accurately?

Yes. A 20-item daily symptom questionnaire called the DSR-20 is reliable and can identify two types of PMS symptoms: psychological and physical. It clearly distinguishes women with PMS from those without.

 Moderate study design

140 women seeking treatment for PMS and 54 women free from premenstrual complaints

## What they did

The researchers tested a questionnaire that women filled out every day for three menstrual cycles. They included 140 women who were seeking treatment for PMS and 54 women who had no premenstrual symptoms. They examined how well the questionnaire measured symptoms and whether it could identify different types of PMS symptoms.

## What they found

The 20 items in the questionnaire had very strong reliability. Two clear groups of symptoms appeared: psychological symptoms and physical symptoms. Women with PMS scored much higher on both groups of symptoms during the luteal phase compared to women without PMS. During the follicular phase (the first half of the cycle), there was no clear difference between the groups.

## What it means for you

Daily symptom tracking can help doctors identify PMS and understand what type of symptoms you have. The study used women seeking treatment, so the results may not apply to all women with PMS.

140

women with PMS seeking treatment

54

women without PMS symptoms

3

menstrual cycles tracked

## About the study

Original title Reliability and component structure of the modified Daily Symptom Report (DSR-20) Authors Canning SE, Waterman MG, Simpson N et al. Journal Journal of affective disorders Year 2012 Study design Study What was tested Daily Symptom Report questionnaire (DSR-20) Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.10.021](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.10.021)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Irritability and anger](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-irritability-anger/)

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