IN RECENTLY published research, women with premenstrual disorders demonstrated a higher risk of suicide compared to women without premenstrual disorders. The research team, led by Marion Opatowski, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, compared the of suicide, along with the risk of all-cause mortality, amongst women with versus without premenstrual disorders.
A nationwide, population-based cohort study was conducted, using data from population and health registers in Sweden. Overall, 67,748 women of reproductive age with a first diagnosis of premenstrual disorders from 2001 to 2018 were identified. These women were then matched with 338,740 women without premenstrual disorders to assess long-term consequences and mortality risk among women with premenstrual disorders.
The team reported that women with premenstrual disorders were diagnosed at a mean age of 35.8 years. During a follow-up period of 6.2 years, 367 women with and 1,958 women without premenstrual disorders died. It was reported that women with premenstrual disorders did not have an increased overall mortality risk compared to women without (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82-1.02). However, women with versus without premenstrual disorders had an increased risk for death due to nonnatural causes (HR = 1.59; 95% CI, 1.25-2.04), particularly for suicide (HR = 1.92; 95% CI, 1.43-2.6). Furthermore, women diagnosed with premenstrual disorders before age 25 years had higher all-cause mortality (HR = 2.51; 95% CI, 1.42-4.42) and death from suicide (HR = 3.84; 95% CI, 1.18-12.45) and natural causes (HR = 2.59; 95% CI, 1.21-5.54).
This study emphasised the importance of careful follow-up procedures for women with premenstrual disorders, and “highlights the need to develop suicide prevention strategies for all women with premenstrual disorders,” commented the authors.
Reference
Opatowski M et al. Mortality risk among women with premenstrual disorders in Sweden. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(5):e2413394.
