Survey study, 1987
Do women with PMS have more health problems and time off work than women without PMS?
Yes. Women with PMS reported more illnesses when absent from work and had a different pattern of diagnoses. Mental health diagnoses were twice as common in the PMS group.
What they did
Survey study in Uppsala County, Sweden. 83 women reported being absent from work during the previous half year due to PMS. Their work absences and diagnoses over 1 year were compared with a matched control group of 83 women without PMS. Groups were matched on age and marital status.
What they found
Women with PMS had more overall illnesses and a different diagnostic pattern when absent from work compared to the control group. The diagnosis of mental disorders was twice as common in the group with PMS.
What it means for you
PMS is associated with more illness and more time off work, particularly for mental health problems. This shows PMS has real health impacts beyond just period symptoms. The main limitation is the study only tracked people in one region of Sweden and relied on reported absences, so we don't know if women with PMS actually had more illnesses or just took more time off.
83
Women with PMS studied
1 year
Follow-up period
2
Times more common for mental disorder diagnoses in PMS group
About the study
- Original title
- The premenstrual syndrome and absence from work due to illness
- Authors
- Jarmila Hallman, Nikolaj Georgiev
- Journal
- Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology
- Year
- 1987
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 83
- What was tested
- None
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.3109/01674828709016772