Survey study, 2009
How common is PMDD among American women?
Only 1.3% of women met full PMDD criteria using strict diagnostic rules. This is much lower than previous research suggested.
What they did
Random sample study of 1246 US women aged 13-55. Women completed daily symptom questionnaires over 2 consecutive menstrual cycles and had psychiatric screening.
What they found
Only 1.3% met full DSM-IV PMDD criteria when researchers required symptoms to worsen in the late luteal week, occur on days with marked interference, and happen in 2 consecutive cycles without other mental disorders explaining them.
What it means for you
PMDD is rarer than many believed when strict diagnostic criteria are used. How we define and measure PMDD matters greatly. Large representative sample but cross-sectional design.
1.3%
met PMDD criteria
1246
women studied
2
consecutive menstrual cycles
About the study
- Original title
- The prevalence of premenstrual dysphoric disorder in a randomly selected group of urban and rural women
- Authors
- Gehlert S, Song IH, Chang CH et al.
- Journal
- Psychological medicine
- Year
- 2009
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 1,246
- What was tested
- None; observational study using standardized symptom tracking.
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1017/s003329170800322x
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