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Researchers led by Dr Thomas Reilly at the University of Oxford's Department of Psychiatry looked at studies from across the world to work out how many women and girls met the strict diagnostic criteria for the condition. The data suggested around 1.6% did – equivalent to around 31 million women and girls globally.
A higher proportion - 3.2% - had provisional diagnoses, where the condition is suspected but symptoms had not been measured for a sustained period of time to meet criteria for confirmed diagnosis.
Symptoms of PMDD include mood changes (such as depression and anxiety), physical symptoms (such as breast tenderness, and joint pain), and cognitive problems (difficulty concentrating or memory complaints).