Abstract
Premenstrual disorders (PMD) are characterised by a cluster of somatic and psychological symptoms of varying severity that
occur during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and resolve during menses (Freeman and Sondheimer, Prim Care Companion
J Clin Psychiatry 5:30–39, 2003; Halbreich, Gynecol Endocrinol 19:320–334, 2004). Although PMD have been widely recognised for many decades, their precise cause is still unknown and there are no definitive,
universally accepted diagnostic criteria. To consider this issue, an international multidisciplinary group of experts met
at a face-to-face consensus meeting to review current definitions and diagnostic criteria for PMD. This was followed by extensive
correspondence. The consensus group formally became established as the International Society for Premenstrual Disorders (ISPMD).
The inaugural meeting of the ISPMD was held in Montreal in September 2008. The primary aim was to provide a unified approach
for the diagnostic criteria of PMD, their quantification and guidelines on clinical trial design. This report summarises their
recommendations. It is hoped that the criteria proposed here will inform discussions of the next edition of the World Health
Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), and the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-V) criteria that are currently under consideration. It is also
hoped that the proposed definitions and guidelines could be used by all clinicians and investigators to provide a consistent
approach to the diagnosis and treatment of PMD and to aid scientific and clinical research in this field.
occur during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and resolve during menses (Freeman and Sondheimer, Prim Care Companion
J Clin Psychiatry 5:30–39, 2003; Halbreich, Gynecol Endocrinol 19:320–334, 2004). Although PMD have been widely recognised for many decades, their precise cause is still unknown and there are no definitive,
universally accepted diagnostic criteria. To consider this issue, an international multidisciplinary group of experts met
at a face-to-face consensus meeting to review current definitions and diagnostic criteria for PMD. This was followed by extensive
correspondence. The consensus group formally became established as the International Society for Premenstrual Disorders (ISPMD).
The inaugural meeting of the ISPMD was held in Montreal in September 2008. The primary aim was to provide a unified approach
for the diagnostic criteria of PMD, their quantification and guidelines on clinical trial design. This report summarises their
recommendations. It is hoped that the criteria proposed here will inform discussions of the next edition of the World Health
Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), and the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-V) criteria that are currently under consideration. It is also
hoped that the proposed definitions and guidelines could be used by all clinicians and investigators to provide a consistent
approach to the diagnosis and treatment of PMD and to aid scientific and clinical research in this field.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-9
- DOI 10.1007/s00737-010-0201-3
- Authors
- Patrick Michael Shaughn O’Brien, Academic Unit of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Keele University School of Medicine, University Hospital North Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, UK
- Torbjorn Bäckström, Umeå Neurosteroid Research Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Norrland University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden
- Candace Brown, Departments of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Tennessee Health Science Centre, Memphis, TN USA
- Lorraine Dennerstein, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC Australia
- Jean Endicott, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
- C. Neill Epperson, Departments of Psychiatry, Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA
- Elias Eriksson, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Göteberg University, Göteberg, Sweden
- Ellen Freeman, Departments of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
- Uriel Halbreich, State University of New York at Buffalo and WPA, New York, NY USA
- Khaled M. K. Ismail, Academic Unit of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent, UK
- Nicholas Panay, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK
- Teri Pearlstein, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI USA
- Andrea Rapkin, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA USA
- Robert Reid, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON Canada
- Peter Schmidt, Section on Behavioral Endocrinology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD USA
- Meir Steiner, Departments of Psychiatry, Behavioural Neurosciences, Obstetrics and Gynaecology McMaster University, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, 301 James Street South, Hamilton, ON L8P3B6, Canada
- John Studd, Department of Gynaecology, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK
- Kimberley Yonkers, Departments of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, New Haven, CT USA
- Journal Archives of Women’s Mental Health
- Online ISSN 1435-1102
- Print ISSN 1434-1816