Abstract
ObjectiveTo assess the relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD) and menopausal symptoms in middle-aged women in Taiwan.Patients and methodsThe present study identified 14,340 symptomatic menopausal women without a history of CHD from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2013. A total of 14,340 age- and Charlson-comorbidity-index-score-matched asymptomatic women were used as controls. Possible comorbidity-attributable risks of CHD were surveyed to assess whether the symptomatic menopausal cohort had a higher incidence of CHD.ResultsThe incidence of CHD was higher in the symptomatic menopausal cohort than in the control cohort (17.18 vs. 12.05 per 1000 person-years). After adjustment in multivariate Cox analysis, the risk of CHD was significantly higher in the symptomatic menopausal cohort (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.344, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.262–1.43, P < 0.001) than in the control cohort. In the symptomatic menopausal cohort, the risk of CHD was significantly higher in all subgroups, except for the hormone therapy (HT) subgroup. Patients undergoing HT had a nonsignificantly higher risk of CHD, regardless of the presence or absence of menopausal symptoms.ConclusionThis large-scale longitudinal retrospective cohort study revealed that menopausal symptoms are an independent risk factor for CHD. Moreover, our findings indicate that HT has a nonsignificant effect on the risk of CHD.
Highlights
The incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) has increased in postmenopausal women [1,2]
The incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) was higher in the symptomatic menopausal cohort than in the control cohort (17.18 vs. 12.05 per 1000 person-years)
After adjustment in multivariate Cox analysis, the risk of CHD was significantly higher in the symptomatic menopausal cohort than in the control cohort
Summary
The incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) has increased in postmenopausal women [1,2]. Increasing bodies of evidence indicate that menopausal symptoms are associated with risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) and surrogate markers for CHD and clinical CVD [5,6,7]. Middle-aged women with menopausal symptoms exhibit adverse changes in CVD risk factors and, increased CVD risk [8]. It remains unclear whether the presence of menopausal symptoms can truly predict clinical CVD events or whether CVD is primarily explained by associated CVD risk factors. No consensus has been reached on this topic
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
