Systematic review, 2025
Are women with PMDD more likely to have experienced trauma in the past?
Yes. Across many studies, most women with PMDD reported past traumatic exposure, and they were about twice as likely to have a trauma history as women without PMDD.
What they did
Researchers combined results from 27 earlier studies on PMDD and trauma, using 16 of them to calculate an average rate. This is a systematic review, not a new study on patients.
What they found
The share of PMDD patients reporting past trauma ranged from 18.03% to 90.5% across studies. Combining the data gave a pooled rate of 61% (95% CI, 46-74%). In studies that compared PMDD patients to a control group, women with PMDD were 1.99 times more likely to report a trauma history.
What it means for you
Past trauma appears strongly linked to PMDD and may be a risk factor, suggesting doctors should ask about trauma history when assessing PMDD. The main limit is very high variability between studies (I2 = 95%), meaning results differed a lot from one study to another.
61%
Pooled trauma prevalence in PMDD
46-74%
Confidence interval
1.99x
More likely to have trauma history than non-PMDD
About the study
- Original title
- The prevalence of traumatic exposure in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD): a systematic review
- Authors
- Grewal JK, Mu E, Li Q et al.
- Journal
- Archives of women's mental health
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Systematic review
- What was tested
- None (this is a review of existing evidence, not a treatment test)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s00737-024-01536-z
Topics
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