Elsevier

Maturitas

Volume 46, Issue 3, 20 November 2003, Pages 199-205
Maturitas

Experience of climacteric symptoms among 42–46 and 52–56-year-old women

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-5122(03)00216-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: The intensity of climacteric symptoms and their connection with sociodemographic background data were assessed among women who are or will soon be menopausal. Methods: A sample of 5510 Finnish women who were 42–46 or 52–56-years-old was selected to this ‘Quality of Life among Middle-aged Women’ Study and received a menopause-specific questionnaire. Results: Only 5% of the older and 36% of the younger women were totally asymptomatic. Altogether, 2% of the younger and 11% of the older women had severe climacteric symptoms. In the younger age group, a high symptom intensity was associated with living in town, having a low level of professional education, and being unemployed/laid off, whereas in the older age group, the experience of severe symptoms was associated with those having a couple relationship. Conclusion: Altogether 95% of women in the productive working age (52–56-years-old) surprisingly suffer from mild, moderate, or severe climacteric symptoms. Further even up to 64% of the younger women (42–46-years-old) suffered from similar symptoms.

Introduction

Physical, psychological, social, and sexual well-being of menopausal women has been investigated and debated in several healthcare studies [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Such a well-being or a quality of life during menopause is influenced by climacteric symptoms such as sweating, hot flushes, irritability, depression, and sleeping problems which are caused by oestrogen deficiency [5], [6]. Some women have reported very few symptoms while others suffer a lot. However, not much exact information exists in the literature about how women experience climacteric symptoms, or why some women have severe symptoms while others have none at all.

Women who are married, living in cities, or having a high level of education have paradoxically been hypothesised as having more severe climacteric symptoms just because these women are eager to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) more often than other women [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13]. According to clinical practise, one third of the women at or around menopause have been thought to suffer from severe and one third from moderate climacteric symptoms, whereas another one third has been thought to have no symptoms at all.

In order to evaluate these issues, we examined the intensity of the climacteric symptoms and their connections with the sociodemographic variables such as couple relationship, place of residence, levels of basic and professional education, and personal employment situation of women who are or soon will be menopausal (42–46 and 52–56-year-olds).

Section snippets

Material and methods

Following the nation-wide Health and Social Support Study (HeSSup Study) in September 1998 [14], the present ‘Quality of Life among Middle-aged Women’ Study was implemented as a second survey. For the HeSSup Study, the central population register was used to draw random samples of Finnish working-aged population stratified according to gender and four age groups, and for this second survey, the female respondents (n=5510) of its two oldest age groups (women of 42–46 and 52–56 years of age) were

Results

These two study groups significantly differed from each other in three background variables. The younger women had higher levels of basic and professional education (P<0.001), and they were working more often than the older women (P<0.001) (Table 1).

Fig. 1 illustrates the intensity of the sum score of the four main climacteric symptoms (sweating, hot flushes, vaginal dryness and tenderness, and sleeping problems) in both age groups. Fig. 2 illustrates the prevalence of five most common

Discussion

There were fewer asymptomatic women and fewer women having severe climacteric symptoms in the present study than we had expected. The intensity of the lack of sexual desire as a common climacteric problem was a surprising issue as well. This issue is an important but barely investigated matter among climacteric women.

Practically all of the older and almost two thirds of the younger women had some climacteric symptoms in the present study. Almost a half of the older women had moderate or severe

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