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BMC Women's Health
Published in: BMC Women's Health 1/2011

Open Access 01-12-2011 | Research article

Premenstrual symptoms in young adults born preterm at very low birth weight - from the Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults

Authors: Sanna Mustaniemi, Marika Sipola-Leppänen, Petteri Hovi, Uriel Halbreich, Marja Vääräsmäki, Katri Räikkönen, Anu-Katriina Pesonen, Kati Heinonen, Anna-Liisa Järvenpää, Johan G Eriksson, Sture Andersson, Eero Kajantie

Published in: BMC Women's Health | Issue 1/2011

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Abstract

Background

Clinically significant premenstrual symptoms are common among young women. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is characterized by emotional, behavioural and physical symptoms that consistently occur during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of PMS. Individual variation in stress responsiveness may be involved in the pathophysiology of premenstrual symptoms. Preterm birth at very low birth weight (VLBW, < 1500g) has a multitude of consequences that extend to adult life, including altered stress responsiveness which could affect the prevalence of premenstrual symptoms.

Methods

In this cohort study, we compared 75 VLBW women with 95 women born at term (mean age 22.5). We used a standardized retrospective questionnaire assessing the presence and severity of a variety of symptoms before and after menses. The symptom scores were used both as continuous and as dichotomized variables, with cutoffs based on DSM-IV criteria for PMDD and ACOG criteria for PMS, except prospective daily ratings could not be used. We used multiple linear and logistic regression to adjust for confounders.

Results

There was no difference in the continuous symptom score before menses (mean difference VLBW-term -18.3%, 95% confidence interval -37.9 to 7.5%) or after menses. The prevalence of premenstrual symptoms causing severe impairment to daily life was 13.3% for VLBW women and 14.7% for control women. For PMDD, it was 8.0% and 4.2%, and for PMS, 12.0% and 11.6%, respectively. These differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.1).

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that the severity of premenstrual symptoms and the prevalence of PMDD and PMS among young women born preterm at VLBW is not higher than among those born at term.
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Metadata
Title
Premenstrual symptoms in young adults born preterm at very low birth weight - from the Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults
Authors
Sanna Mustaniemi
Marika Sipola-Leppänen
Petteri Hovi
Uriel Halbreich
Marja Vääräsmäki
Katri Räikkönen
Anu-Katriina Pesonen
Kati Heinonen
Anna-Liisa Järvenpää
Johan G Eriksson
Sture Andersson
Eero Kajantie
Publication date
01-12-2011
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Women's Health / Issue 1/2011
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6874
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-11-25

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