ORIGINAL PAPER Prevalence, correlates, comorbidities, and suicidal tendencies of premenstrual dysphoric disorder in a nationwide sample of Korean women Jin Pyo Hong • Subin Park • Hee-Ryung Wang • Sung Man Chang • Jee Hoon Sohn • Hong Jin Jeon • Hae Woo Lee • Seong-Jin Cho • Byung-Soo Kim • Jae Nam Bae • Maeng Je Cho Received: 17 April 2011 / Accepted: 27 March 2012 / Published online: 27 April 2012 Ó Springer-Verlag 2012 Abstract Purpose We examined the prevalence, correlates, comor- bidities, and suicidal tendencies of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) according to the DSM-IV criteria in a nationwide sample of Korean women. Methods A total of 2,499 women aged 18–64 years par- ticipated in this study. Diagnostic assessments were based on the Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) 2.1 and its 12-month PMDD diagnostic module, which were administered by lay inter- viewers. The frequencies of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders, insomnia, and suicidal tendency were analyzed among PMDD cases and compared with non-PMDD cases, and both odds ratios and significance levels were calculated. Results The 12-month prevalence rate of DSM-IV-diag- nosed PMDD was 2.4 %. Among subjects with PMDD, 59.3 % had at least one psychiatric illness; in comparison, the control frequency was 21.8 %. Associations between PMDD and alcohol abuse/dependence, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, somatoform disorder, insomnia, and suicidality were overwhelmingly positive and significant (p \ 0.05), after controlling for age. Physical illness and being underweight were associated with increased risks of PMDD (p \ 0.05). Conclusions PMDD was prevalent in the nationwide sample of Korean women and was frequently associated with other psychiatric disorders, insomnia, and suicidality, suggesting the need to detect and treat women who expe- rience PMDD. Keywords Premenstrual dysphoric disorder Á Epidemiology Á Comorbidity Á Suicide Á Korea Introduction A constellation of affective, cognitive, and physical symptoms historically known as premenstrual syndrome (PMS) has been recognized for decades to occur during the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle [19]. Premens- trual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a more severe form of PMS, is characterized by recurrent affective and behavioral symptoms that interfere with personal and social relation- ships or work. There have been attempts to define and operationalize diagnostic criteria for PMDD, and PMDD was included in the appendix of the Diagnostic and J. P. Hong Á S. Park Á H.-R. Wang Á M. J. Cho Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea S. M. Chang Department of Psychiatry, Kyungpook National University College of Medicine, Daegu, South Korea J. H. Sohn Á H. W. Lee Á B.-S. Kim Á M. J. Cho (&) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yeongeon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea e-mail: mjcho@snu.ac.kr; mjcho@plaza.snu.ac.kr H. J. Jeon Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea S.-J. Cho Department of Psychiatry, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, South Korea J. N. Bae Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, South Korea 123 Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol (2012) 47:1937–1945 DOI 10.1007/s00127-012-0509-6