Metcalf M G, Livesey J H
Department of Endocrinology, Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand.
J Psychosom Res. 1995 Jul;39(5):609-18. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(94)00167-7.
A daily mood record was kept by 44 women presenting with PMS (PMS+ group: 133 menstrual cycles) and by 48 normal women (PMS- group: 100 cycles). Peaks of maximum positive mood were located after fitting either a 5-term or a 3-term Fourier series to the data. In the PMS+ group mood peaks were clustered to a significant degree (p < 0.001) around day 11 in a 28-day menstrual cycle (95% confidence interval: days 10-12); this is the time of the pre-ovulatory oestrogen surge. In the PMS- group clustering was insignificant. Menstrual cycle parameters were similar in the two groups (PMS+ vs. PMS-: mean duration cycle, 27.6 +/- 3.2(SD) vs. 26.7 +/- 2.5 days; incidence ovulatory cycles, 95.5 vs. 93.0%). The evidence suggests either that the ovarian hormone cycle has no effect on mood, or that it has an effect only in women with PMS.
