Psychotherapy for Depression and Anxiety in Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: There are several therapeutic methods for the premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Although psychotherapy has been introduced for women with PMS, no regular reconsiderations of these treatments are available. Aim of the present meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of psychotherapy interventions on the PMS. Materials and Methods: The present systematic review and meta- analysis was conducted no restriction in date of publication until 13th March 2018 on electronic international databases of Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library as well as Iranian databases, such as Magiran, Medlib, and SID, using equivalent keywords in Persian. The quality of studies and data extraction was assessed by two authors. The standardized mean difference (SMD) measure was applied to calculate the main effect size. Results: Seven trials were included in systematic review. Depression level [SMD =-0.978; p<0.001; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): -1.466 to -0.490, seven trials, and anxiety (SMD= -0.911; p<0.001; 95% CI: -1.46 to-0.355, four trials in women with premenstrual syndrome decreased significantly in psychotherapy group compared to control group]. However, high heterogeneity among trials were found in trials assessed the effect of psychotherapy on outcome depression (p<0.001, I2=78%) and anxiety (p=0.015 I2=71%). Conclusion: Our meta- analysis gives strong support for the beneficial effect of psychotherapy on anxiety and depression in women with premenstrual syndrome. These findings should be interpreted with caution in light of limitation including high heterogeneity.