IMPACT OF CLIMACTERIC ON WELL-BEING - A SURVEY BASED ON 5213 WOMEN 39 TO 60 YEARS OLD

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess the influence of the severity of vasomotor complaints, menopausal status, and age on the severity of 21 general complaints considered atypical for the climacteric. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional general population survey was conducted through questionnaires of 5213 women aged 39 to 60 years. Statistical analysis was performed by cross tabulation, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Severity of vasomotor complaints is related to the severity of all 21 general complaints, most pronounced for tenseness and tiredness. Because menstruating women report more severe atypical complaints than nonmenstruating women with similarly severe vasomotor complaints, the change in prevalence of atypical complaints according to menopausal status is rather small. Adjusted for vasomotor complaints, there is virtually no independent effect of age on atypical complaints. CONCLUSIONS: Severity of vasomotor complaints is related to an overall reduced well-being. When climacteric women are seen for atypical complaints it is vital to assess the severity of vasomotor complaints also because others have shown that the severity of vasomotor complaints is indicative of the rate of climacteric bone loss.