Menopause International > Volume 15, Number 3 > Pp. 120-126

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Original articles

Premenstrual symptoms – severity, duration and typology: an international cross-sectional study

Lorraine Dennerstein ^* , Philippe Lehert ^*, Torbjörn Carl Bäckström  and Klaas Heinemann 

^* Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Umea Neurosteroid Research Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Norrlands University Hospital, Umea, Sweden
Bayer Schering Pharma, Women's Health Care, Berlin, Germany

Correspondence: Professor Lorraine Dennerstein, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. Email: ldenn{at}unimelb.edu.au
Objectives. Determine women's experiences of premenstrual symptoms.

Study design. Cross-sectional survey.

Sample. In all, 4085 women aged 14–49 years recruited by random telephone digit dialing in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, UK, Brazil and Mexico.

Main outcome measures. Telephone interview checklist of 23 premenstrual symptoms, sociodemographic variables and lifestyle variables.

Results. The most prevalent symptoms were abdominal bloating, cramps or abdominal pain, breast tenderness, irritability and mood swings. Severity of symptoms is directly proportional to duration (R = 0.79). Hierarchical clustering found the following mental and physical domains and a typology: ‘Mild’ type (40.8%) with minimal symptoms; ‘Moderate M’ type (28.7%) with moderately severe, mostly mental symptoms; ‘Moderate P’ type (21.9%) with moderately severe, mostly physical symptoms; and ‘Severe’ type (8.6%) with severe intensity of both mental and physical symptoms. Multiple stepwise regression found significant effects on symptom duration severity index of age (linear and quadratic effects), current smoking and country.

Conclusions. Further research is needed on the impact of premenstrual symptoms on quality of life, and whether a brief symptom list could be developed as a valid and reliable tool globally.

Key Words: Premenstrual symptoms • premenstrual syndrome • epidemiological

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