Quintana-Zinn Felicia A, Whitcomb Brian W, Ronnenberg Alayne G, Bigelow Carol, Houghton Serena C, Bertone-Johnson Elizabeth R
1 Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Massachusetts Amherst , Lincoln, Nebraska.
2 Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Massachusetts Amherst , Amherst, Massachusetts.
J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2017 Oct;26(10):1099-1105. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2016.5921. Epub 2017 Jun 26.
Approximately 80% of reproductive age women experience physical or emotional symptoms before onset of menses. Of these women, ∼20% experience symptoms severe enough to interfere with social functioning and life activities, and meet clinical criteria for premenstrual syndrome (PMS). More than 100 different symptoms are associated with PMS. Symptom groupings tend to be stable within an individual, but vary distinctly between women. Potential differences in the etiology of symptoms suggest that PMS may have subtypes that represent distinct entities.
The goal of this study was to identify symptom patterns using factor analysis. We then used linear regression to evaluate relations between PMS risk factors with factor scores for the symptom patterns. Analysis included: (1) 414 healthy women aged 18-30 years; (2) the subgroup of these women meeting established criteria for PMS (n = 80). All participants provided information on the occurrence and severity of 26 premenstrual symptoms by validated questionnaire.
Four distinct symptom patterns emerged, labeled Emotional, Psychological/Cognitive, Physical, and Consumption. We observed a linear relationship between body mass index and the Consumption pattern in both the total study population (p = 0.03) and the PMS subset (p = 0.04). Additionally, in the total population, physical activity was inversely associated with the Physical pattern (p = 0.04), but positively associated with the Consumption pattern (p = 0.03). Results from this study are consistent with previously identified patterns and suggest that distinct subtypes of PMS exist.
Future studies of behavioral factors should evaluate associations with symptom patterns in addition to PMS as an aggregate disorder.
约80%处于生育年龄的女性在月经来潮前会出现身体或情绪症状。在这些女性中，约20%的人症状严重到足以干扰社交功能和生活活动，并符合经前综合征（PMS）的临床标准。超过100种不同的症状与经前综合征相关。症状分组在个体内部往往是稳定的，但在不同女性之间差异明显。症状病因的潜在差异表明，经前综合征可能有代表不同实体的亚型。
本研究的目的是使用因子分析来识别症状模式。然后我们使用线性回归来评估经前综合征风险因素与症状模式因子得分之间的关系。分析包括：（1）414名年龄在18 - 30岁的健康女性；（2）这些女性中符合经前综合征既定标准的亚组（n = 80）。所有参与者通过经过验证的问卷提供了26种经前症状的发生情况和严重程度信息。
出现了四种不同的症状模式，分别标记为情绪型、心理/认知型、身体型和消费型。我们在整个研究人群（p = 0.03）和经前综合征亚组（p = 0.04）中均观察到体重指数与消费型模式之间存在线性关系。此外，在总人群中，身体活动与身体型模式呈负相关（p = 0.04），但与消费型模式呈正相关（p = 0.03）。本研究结果与先前确定的模式一致，并表明存在经前综合征的不同亚型。
未来关于行为因素的研究除了将经前综合征作为一种综合病症进行评估外，还应评估与症状模式的关联。
