Premenstrual mood swings and anxiety now affect more than 64% of women, which is a “major public health concern internationally,” according to a recent research.
Every menstrual cycle, the majority of women suffer premenstrual symptoms.
Every menstrual cycle, at least 61% of women across all age groups reported experiencing symptoms related to their mood, leading the researchers to conclude that “premenstrual mood symptoms represent an important public health concern in the world.”
The head of the Reproductive Psychiatry Research Programme at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Jennifer L. Payne, stated that “our study reveals that premenstrual mood disorders are exceedingly frequent around the world.”
More significantly, she continued, “a majority of women indicated that at least occasionally, premenstrual symptoms interfered with their daily lives.”
The Flo app, which helps women track their menstrual cycle or track their mood or physical symptoms during and after pregnancy, was used in the study, which was published in Archives of Women’s Mental Health. More than 238,000 survey responses from women ages 18 to 55 from 140 countries were analysed.
According to the study, food cravings (85.28%), mood changes or anxiety (64.18%), and weariness (57.3%) were the most frequently reported symptoms.
Additionally, 34.84 percent of respondents claimed their premenstrual symptoms occasionally interfered with their daily lives, compared to 28.61 percent who said they did so every time they had a period.
Premenstrual mood and anxiety symptoms were reported more frequently in some countries than others, according to Payne.
She continued, “A significant future study path will be to determine if differences in biology or culture are responsible for the nation level rates.”
Researchers believe that by increasing healthcare practitioners’ awareness of how frequently these symptoms—particularly anxiety and mood-related symptoms—occur, women would benefit from improved care.
Premenstrual symptoms that interfere with a woman’s daily functioning can be treated using a variety of techniques, the expert added.
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“Improving knowledge of how prevalent these symptoms are and that there are therapies available if they have an adverse impact on functioning can help women improve their quality of life,” the researcher continued.
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