HOW AGE CONDITIONS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIMACTERIC STATUS AND HEALTH SYMPTOMS IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the relationship between climacteric status and health symptoms across age cohorts in 522 African American women aged 25–75. Data were collected through home interviews and subjected to hierarchical regression analyses. In the overall sample a direct relationship was found between climacteric status and physical health symptoms but not mental health symptoms. A direct relationship between climacteric status and both physical and mental health symptoms. A direct relationship between climacteric status and both physical and mental health symptoms was found for the younger age cohort 25–34. There was a direct relationship between climacteric status and physical health symptoms but not mental health symptoms for the 35–44 age cohort. The relationship between climacteric status and physical and mental health symptoms held despite controls for education, income, marital status, and body mass. Copyright © 1991 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company