Prevalence and factors associated with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: A community sample of young adult women

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) was recently included in DSM-5 as a full diagnostic category. Few studies have investigated PMDD in a community sample of young adults, especially in Brazil. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and the factors associated with PMDD in a community sample of 727 young adult women between the 18 and 24 years of age in southern Brazil. This was a cross-sectional population-based study. The data were collected from 2012 to 2014. PMDD was assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatry Interview (M.I.N.I. - Plus). The prevalence of PMDD was 17.6%. PMDD was significantly higher among older women, and in women from lower socio-economic status. A trend towards significance was found for women without a current occupation (study or work). The comorbidities significantly associated with PMDD were current major depression disorder, agoraphobia, bipolar disorder, current suicide risk, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and specific phobia. The high prevalence found in the present study should be interpreted considering a retrospective report. However, our data showed that clinicians should be alert for PMDD symptoms, especially among young adult women.