Climacteric-related symptoms in menopause transition and beyond: a prospective 19-year follow-up study on previously hysterectomized women

Abstract

Only a few extended follow-up studies have investigated the natural progress of climacteric-related symptoms. The results have been conflicting. Thus, our aim was to evaluate, through a 19-year longitudinal study, whether these symptoms decrease or disappear as time elapses after menopause. Our study was a prospective follow-up survey of 65 hysterectomized peri or postmenopausal women. The women were interviewed at the baseline, and at 6 and 19 years thereafter. Changes in various climacteric-related symptoms were evaluated by repeated-measures analysis of variance with time as the independent variable. The analyses were adjusted for baseline age, body mass index, employment, and use of hormone therapy. Climacteric-related symptoms were evaluated with the Women's Health Questionnaire, of which we included seven symptom domains (vasomotor, sleep, depressive, anxiety/fears, cognitive, sexual, and somatic). Vasomotor symptoms decreased remarkably during the follow-up period. In addition, a statistically significant decrease was found in sleep problems and cognitive difficulties. However, the decrease was minor, and thus probably clinically insignificant. The only symptom with notable decrease was vasomotor symptoms. The etiology of other symptoms, commonly connected to menopause transition, is probably multifactorial and not substantially dependent on the climacteric.