Is severity of premenstrual symptoms related to illness in the climacteric?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether women in the climacteric who have previously had severe premenstrual problems have a different pattern of reporting sick than other women. The material in the study comprised women with different degrees of severity of premenstrual symptoms who participated in an epidemiological study in 1982 on patterns of reporting sick and those women who at this time were of premenopausal or menopausal age were included. Women who previously had had such serious premenstrual problems that they had to be put on the sick-list were compared with women who had had moderate or no premenstrual problems. Information about to which extent these women have reported themselves sick has been obtained from the Regional Social Insurance Office in Uppsala County. The results show that women who have previously had severe premenstrual problems and who are now of menopausal age have a significantly greater number of diagnoses and occasions and have more long-term absences from work than women in the two control groups. They also have a greater number of sick days per year compared with statistics from the National Social Insurance Board on all women in the country.