ABSTRACT
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is not well-studied in Arab populations. The goal of this study was to validate the Arabic version of the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST) using the DSM diagnosis of PMDD as the gold standard. The PSST was translated and culturally adapted using back translation and the approval of the original author. We recruited 194 adult women (between October 2013 and March 2014) from two primary care centers in Doha, Qatar. A psychiatrist determined the diagnosis using the semi-structured Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and another rater blinded to the diagnosis finalized the Arabic PSST and administered other clinical questionnaires. The data showed that premenstrual symptoms and PMDD were observed in about 37 percent and 15 percent, respectively, of the women enrolled. The mean age of the women with PMDD according to the PSST was about 30 years, and the majority had children. The Arabic PSST showed high specificity of 95.6 percent but low sensitivity of 26.7 percent. A factor analysis of the different items in Arabic PSST showed that the Arabic PSST could detect the cases with definite PMDD and thus can be a useful tool in primary care settings as this treatable disorder is underdiagnosed in the Arab populations.
Subject(s)
Mass Screening/methods , Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder/diagnosis , Premenstrual Syndrome/diagnosis , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/statistics & numerical data , Psychometrics/methods , Surveys and Questionnaires/standards , Adult , Arabs , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Language , Mental Health , Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder/ethnology , Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder/psychology , Qatar , Reproducibility of Results , Translating , TranslationsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is the constellation of physical and psychological symptoms before menstruation. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of PMS with more depressive and anxiety symptoms. The Mini international neuropsychiatric interview, module U (MINI-U), assesses the diagnostic criteria for probable PMDD. The Premenstrual Symptoms screening tool (PSST) measures the severity of these symptoms. AIM: To compare the PSST ordinal scores with the corresponding dichotomous MINI-U answers. METHODS: Arab women (n = 194) residing in Doha, Qatar, received the MINI-U and PSST. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses provided the cut-off scores on the PSST using MINI-U as a gold standard. RESULTS: All PSST ratings were higher in participants with positive responses on MINI-U. In addition, ROC analyses showed that all areas under the curves were significant with the cutoff scores on PSST. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that the severity measures from PSST can recognize patients with moderate/ severe PMS and PMDD who would benefit from immediate treatment.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the relation of locus 1p13 rs646776 (T/C) polymorphism with preeclampsia in Egyptian women. METHODS: The study included 100 healthy pregnant female subjects and 100 preeclampsia patients. The genotypes of the polymorphisms were assessed. Endothelin-1 level was determined in plasma. RESULTS: The major T allele of the 1p13.3 genomic region rs646776 polymorphism had a higher frequency in preeclampsia patients. Carriers of C allele had significantly lower endothelin-1 levels, lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, decreased proteinuria, and increased HDL-C in the patients. CONCLUSION: The rare C allele of rs646776 polymorphism in chromosomal locus 1p13.3 is associated with decreased risk of preeclampsia.