Risk factors related to the presence and severity of hot flushes in mid-aged Ecuadorian women

Abstract

Background Several studies drawn from the Ecuadorian population have previously reported that more than half of mid-aged women present hot flushes, which can impair their quality of life. However up-to-date risk factors for their presence and severity have not been assessed. Objective To assess hot flush frequency and intensity and related risk factors among middle-aged Ecuadorian women. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 1154 healthy women aged 40–59 years, visiting healthcare centers of eight main cities of Ecuador with more than 100,000 inhabitants, were assessed with the first item of the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) and a questionnaire containing female and partner socio-demographic data. Results Mean age of the entire sample was 48.8 ± 5.6 years (median 48), a 48.7% had 12 or less years of schooling, 52.8% were postmenopausal, 43.6% lived at high altitude, 56.8% were married and 10% were on hormonal therapy (HT). Hot flushes accounted for 56% ( n = 646) of the whole sample, of which 29.1% and 9.1% were respectively graded as severe and very severe. Logistic regression determined that female sedentarism (OR: 2.42, CI 95% [1.63–3.59]), accessing a free healthcare system (OR: 1.96, CI 95% [1.30–2.96]), living at high altitude (OR: 1.82, CI 95% [1.14–2.90]) and having a partner abusing alcohol (OR: 1.92, CI 95% [1.09–3.35]) were significant risk factors related to the presence of hot flushes. The regression model also determined that among women with hot flushes ( n = 646), sedentarism (OR: 1.73, CI 95% [1.14–2.62]) and having a partner with erectile dysfunction (OR: 2.57, CI 95% [1.44–4.59]) were significant risk factors related to severe/very severe hot flushes whereas married status (OR: 0.53, CI 95% [0.32–0.86]), living at high altitude (OR: 0.46, CI 95% [0.26–0.78]) and partner healthiness (OR: 0.59, CI 95% [0.36–0.95]) were not. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge this is the first and largest study assessing hot flushes in a mid-aged Ecuadorian population. We found that the presence and severity were not significantly related to age and hormonal status yet to other individual female/male characteristics and the demography of the studied population.