Longitudinal Analysis of the Association Between Vasomotor Symptoms and Race/Ethnicity Across the Menopausal Transition: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation

Abstract

Objectives. We investigated whether vasomotor symptom reporting or patterns of change in symptom reporting over the perimenopausal transition among women enrolled in a national study differed according to race/ethnicity. We also sought to determine whether racial/ethnic differences were explained by sociodemographic, health, or lifestyle factors. Methods. We followed 3198 women enrolled in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation during 1996 through 2002. We analyzed frequency of vasomotor symptom reporting using longitudinal multiple logistic regressions. Results. Rates of vasomotor symptom reporting were highest among African Americans (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.63; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.21, 2.20). The transition to late perimenopause exhibited the strongest association with vasomotor symptoms (adjusted OR = 6.64; 95% CI = 4.80, 9.20). Other risk factors were age (adjusted OR=1.17; 95% CI=1.13, 1.21), having less than a college education (adjusted OR = 1.91; 95% CI = 1.40, 2.61), increasing body mass index (adjusted OR=1.03 per unit of increase; 95% CI=1.01, 1.04), smoking (adjusted OR=1.63; 95% CI=1.25, 2.12), and anxiety symptoms at baseline (adjusted OR=3.10; 95% CI=2.33, 4.12). Conclusions. Among the risk factors assessed, vasomotor symptoms were most strongly associated with menopausal status. After adjustment for covariates, symptoms were reported most often in all racial/ethnic groups in late perimenopause and nearly as often in postmenopause.

Efficacy of estrogen plus progestin on menopausal symptoms in women with systemic lupus erythematosus: A randomized, double‐blind, controlled trial

“…It can be explained because one-half of the women in our study were at the menopausal transition or early postmenopause, where menopausal symptoms are more prevalent (25), but other factors, i.e., ethnicity, health status, etc., cannot be ruled out (26).…”

Risk of onset of menopausal symptoms in periods surrounding menopause

“…Hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) of onset of menopausal symptoms were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models that take censoring into account, adjusted for parameters shown to be potential risk factors for menopausal symptoms [2,3,14,15] or to influence the onset of menopause [2,[20][21][22][23] as indicated in footnotes to Table 1.…”

“…These may occur before or after the onset of menopause. Studies on the prevalence of menopausal symptoms during menopausal transition have reported that these were more likely to be experienced in late menopausal transition and in early postmenopause [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. However, the main methodologic issues that limit inferences from epidemiologic studies of the menopausal transition are lack of longitudinal studies and short follow-up [5,13].…”

Vasomotor Symptoms: What is the Impact of Physical Exercise?

“…6 The prevalence of VMS varies considerably among ethnicities and menopausal status. 5,7 Postmenopausal women show a higher prevalence than pre-or perimenopausal women, and Afro-Americans report a greater prevalence than other ethnic groups. 7 Hot flushes increase with older age, smoking, low educational status, anxiety states and depression.…”

“…5,7 Postmenopausal women show a higher prevalence than pre-or perimenopausal women, and Afro-Americans report a greater prevalence than other ethnic groups. 7 Hot flushes increase with older age, smoking, low educational status, anxiety states and depression. 5,8 Increase in body mass index (BMI) show contrasting associations with VMS, with studies showing both higher 1,5,9 and lower 8 incidence.…”