A telephone survey of a random sample of 594 perimenopausal women was done to study the prevalence of hot flashes, use of estrogen, age of menopause onset, and, among those subjects experiencing hot flashes, the frequency of occurrence and number of years of hot flashes. The prevalence of hot flashes was 88%. Surgical menopause women had a prevalence rate of 92% and had the highest estrogen utilization rate. The median age of onset for natural menopause women was 49 years. The frequency of occurrence and number of years of hot flash experience was variable across all groups.
Despite their growing numbers, midlife women continue to feel marginalized by a health care system that is unresponsive to their needs for current information about the perimenopausal experience and for egalitarian, woman-centered care. In this article, the authors call upon physicians, health educators, nurses, counselors, and other health providers to meet the consumer needs of this ever-growing clientele. To this end, they provide data-based information derived from the responses of more than 400 middle-aged women from across the United States to annual Midlife Women's Health Surveys from 1990 to 1993. The authors focus on enhancing the sensitivity of health care providers toward their midlife clients by offering data describing the normal menopausal transition and the feelings and concerns of this group.
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