Archive: Short Takes - 2005-02-15

Premenstrual syndrome can increase costs for employers, according to a study from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Researchers assessed PMS symptoms of 374 women, 18 to 45, and found that 30% had PMS and those women had an average 14% reduction in expected work hours per week and a 15% reduction in work productivity. Overall, total indirect employer costs for women with PMS were about $4,333 more per year, found the study. Helping female employees cope with their symptoms would go a long way to reducing this fiscal burden, noted the study, which appeared in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.