Abstract
We here review principal literature data about sleep disorders in menopause and we compared it with data obtained from a systematical screening of a sample of 161 menopausal women through questionnaires and clinical evaluation. Our data reveal high occurrence of sleep disorders in this group of women if compared to literature data about general population, in the absence of statistically significant differences among the three menopausal stages: we find only a trend toward a higher risk of OSAS (Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome) in PM versus early PM and MT. However, none of women in our survey underwent PSG (polysomnography), essential to confirm the diagnosis of OSAS and none was diagnosed with RLS (Restless Legs Syndrome) (prior to our survey) by the Gynecologist or General Pratictioner: these data reveal the issue of too low attention towards sleep disorders in this contest. Generic “sleep complaints” are clearly associated with depressed mood and worse-quality life along the menopausal process. In our sample, a non-specific definition of insomnia shows a peculiar relationship with a mood disorder: it is only variable not associated with higher BDI and KI scores, in fact. This might suggest that the conditions linked to depression of these women could be more specific sleep disturbances, such as RLS and OSAS.
Highlights
The examined sample consists of 161 women, whose Mean age is 55 ± 6.7 years and the mean age of menopause is 49 ± 4.9, 19% of women are in Menopausal Transition (MT), 43% in early PM and 38% in PM
Hypertension and smoke habit are more common in PM women than MT, but the three groups do not differ in other baseline characteristics
It has to be noted that this data could overestimate the real prevalence of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) in menopause: our sample consists of women attending a gynecologic service, likely suffering of some menopausal-related disturbances
Summary
Some studies found that long sleep duration was associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) [1]. It is not clear, if longer sleep determines CVD, or instead if it is the underlying disease to induce subjects to sleep more. Using the STRAW (Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop, 2011) criteria, menopause is defined as the period of a woman’s life after 12 months of amenorrhea. The period after the final menstrual period is termed early post-menopause and is estimated to be approximately 5 years in duration. The Latter stage is defined as post-menopause (PM) [3]
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