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A universal menopausal syndrome? - 21/08/11

Doi : 10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.09.057 
Nancy E. Avis, PhD a, , Sarah Brockwell, PhD b, Alicia Colvin, MPH b
a Department of Public Health Sciences, Section on Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA 
b Epidemiology Data Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA 

Requests for reprints should be addressed to Nancy E. Avis, PhD, Department of Public Health Sciences, Section on Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Piedmont Plaza II, 2nd floor, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1063

Resumen

A variety of symptoms are reported frequently as being part of a menopausal syndrome. These include hot flashes, night sweats, menstrual irregularities, vaginal dryness, depression, nervous tension, palpitations, headaches, insomnia, lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, and dizzy spells. The question of whether and how symptoms occur together is important for women who want to know which symptoms can be attributed to menopause and which to aging generally or to other physical or psychosocial factors. To address this question, the present article examines the following avenues of research: (1) the clustering or grouping of symptoms; (2) the temporal association of different symptoms with stages of the menopausal transition; (3) the consistency of symptom reporting across cultures, race, and ethnicity; and (4) the consistency of risk factors for symptoms. Results of the factor analysis studies do not support a single syndrome consisting of menopausal and psychological or somatic symptoms. The prevalence of symptom reporting across the transition also argues against a menopausal syndrome because vasomotor symptoms follow a unique pattern that differs from that of other symptoms. Cross-cultural differences suggest that symptom reporting is not universal. Finally, although there is some overlap in risk factors for symptoms, menopausal status is more consistently related to vasomotor symptoms than to psychological or physical ones. Results of these investigations all argue against a universal menopausal syndrome. Future research should focus on how symptoms are interrelated, what factors are uniquely related to vasomotor symptoms, and identifying whether there is a subgroup of women who are more likely to report symptoms.

El texto completo de este artículo está disponible en PDF.

Keywords : Menopause, Symptoms, Syndrome, Vasomotor


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 The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) was supported by Grant Nos. NR004061; AG012495, AG012505, AG012531, AG012535, AG012539, AG012546, AG012553, AG012554 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services, through the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health.
The opinions offered at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) State-of-the-Science Conference on Management of Menopause-Related Symptoms and published herein are not necessarily those of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR) or any of the cosponsoring institutes, offices, or centers of the NIH. Although the NIA and OMAR organized this meeting, this article is not intended as a statement of Federal guidelines or policy.
Publication of the online supplement was made possible by funding from the NIA and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the NIH, US Department of Health & Human Services.


© 2005  Elsevier Inc. Reservados todos los derechos.
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Vol 118 - N° 12S2

P. 37-46 - décembre 2005 Regresar al número
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  • Does the menopausal transition affect health-related quality of life?
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  • Genitourinary symptoms in the menopausal transition
  • Bradley J. Van Voorhis

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