Cohort study, 1992
Does premenstrual tension change as women age?
In 9 women followed for 8 years, premenstrual symptoms showed little change in how common they were or how severe they were.
What they did
Nine women with premenstrual tension kept daily records of 8 psychological and 5 physical symptoms for 3 menstrual cycles in 1982. They repeated this same tracking in 1990. Researchers analyzed symptom patterns using Fourier analysis and collected urine samples for hormone analysis.
What they found
All 9 women continued to have regular menstrual cycles in 1990. There was little change in how common premenstrual tension was or in its severity from 1982 to 1990. Statistical tests showed no significant change for psychological symptoms (p=0.43) or physical symptoms (p=0.52).
What it means for you
For the women studied, PMS did not appear to improve or worsen with age over an 8-year period. The main limitation is the very small sample size of only 9 women, which makes it difficult to generalize these results.
9
women followed over time
8 years
time between measurements
3
menstrual cycles tracked in each period
About the study
- Original title
- Symptom cyclicity in women with the premenstrual syndrome: an 8-year follow-up study
- Authors
- Metcalf MG, Braiden V, Livesey JH
- Journal
- Journal of psychosomatic research
- Year
- 1992
- Study design
- Cohort study
- What was tested
- None. Symptom tracking only.
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(92)90088-j
Topics
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