Research says PMS is affecting daily lives of women

Premenstrual symptoms interfered with 28.61 percent of women’s daily activities every time they had a period, while another 34.84 percent said it happened occasionally.

The research, which was published in the Archives of Women’s Mental Health, analysed over 238,000 survey responses from women ages 18 to 55 from 140 countries.

The information came from the Flo app, which helps women track their menstrual cycle as well as emotional and physical symptoms before and after pregnancy.

According to the researchers, premenstrual mood symptoms constitute a critical public health concern internationally, because at least 61% of women of all ages had mood-related symptoms throughout their menstrual cycle.

Jennifer L. Payne, director of the Reproductive Psychiatry Research Programme at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and one of the study’s authors, said “our demonstrates that premenstrual mood symptoms are incredibly common worldwide.”

“More importantly,” she noted, “a majority of women reported that their premenstrual symptoms interfered with their everyday life at least some of the time.”

Researchers expect that raising healthcare practitioners’ knowledge of how frequently these symptoms—particularly anxiety and mood-related symptoms—occur may enable women to receive better care.

“Increasing awareness of how common these symptoms are, and that if they impact functioning, there are treatments available, will help women improve their quality of life.”

Also Read: These 4 Myths About PMS Just Can’t Be True