Premenstrual symptoms and luteal suicide attempts

Enrique Baca-Garcia, Carmen Diaz-Sastre, Antonio Ceverino, Eloy García Resa, Maria A. Oquendo, Jerónimo Saiz-Ruiz, Jose De Leon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: If premenstrual symptoms (PMS) are temporally and specifically associated with suicidal attempts, suicide attempts in women with PMS should occur more frequently in the luteal phase. Method: In a general hospital, 125 fertile female suicide attempters (and 83 blood donors as controls) with regular menstrual cycles were prospectively studied. A retrospective DSM-IV diagnosis of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) was made. Results: Attempts during the luteal phase were not more frequent in females with PMDD (34%, 23/68) than in those without PMDD (35%, 20/57). The sample had enough power to detect medium and large effect sizes. As expected, there was a significantly higher frequency of PMDD in suicide attempters than in the controls (54% vs 6%; Fisher's exact test, p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: This study was limited by the use of retrospective PMDD diagnosis but suggests that PMDD may not be associated with suicidal acts during the luteal phase, when PMS are present.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)326-329
Number of pages4
JournalEuropean Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Volume254
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2004

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
■ Acknowledgments This study was supported by a 1999 Young Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) (Dr. Baca-Garcia) and a grant from the Spanish government (Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria, FIS 01/0077–01).

Keywords

  • Attempted suicide
  • Menstrual cycle
  • Premenstrual syndrome
  • Suicide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Biological Psychiatry
  • Pharmacology (medical)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Premenstrual symptoms and luteal suicide attempts'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this