Menopausal Status and Metabolic Syndrome in Women in Climacteric Period Treated at a Clinic in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Background: This study aims to understand the relationship between menopausal status and the presence of Metabolic Syndrome in women from 40 to 65 years, as well as to describe the distribution of each component of Metabolic Syndrome according to sample characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 551 women treated at a clinic in southern Brazil. MetS and its components were defined according to NCEP-ATP III and menopausal status as pre, peri, and post-menopause. Prevalences of menopausal status and of MetS and its components were calculated. Estimates of prevalence ratios crude and adjusted with confidence intervals of 95% were calculated by Poisson Regression with robust variance. Demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and reproductive characteristics were considered as potential confounding factors in multivariable models based on a conceptual framework of MetS determination. Results: The prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in the sample was 56.1% (CI 95% : 51.9 to 60.2), being more common among older women (56 to 65 years), with low education, menarche <11 years old, with three or more pregnancies and in the post-menopausal period. In multivariate analysis, there was an increase of prevalence ratios when comparing perimenopause and post-menopause with pre-menopause; however, the confidence intervals include the unit. Regarding the analysis of isolated components in the sample, the most prevalent altered components were: hypertension (84.8%; CI 95% : 81.7 to 87.8), waist circumference (66.4%; CI 95% : 62.5 to 70.4) and HDL cholesterol (51.7%; CI 95% : 47.5 to 55.9). There was a linear increase on mean blood glucose through menopausal status. Conclusions: Our study indicates variation on the distribution of MetS and each component according to menopausal status and other women characteristics. Future studies on MetS should also have foresight to use this type of approach to improve understanding and targeting of actions and programs focusing on women in this period of life.

The association of menopause with cardiometabolic disease risk factors in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analyses

“…Tables 1 and 2 show the characteristics of the 44 studies included in the systematic review. The studies were from the following countries: China 21-23,26,27,30,39-45 (n = 13), Brazil 15,16,28,47-50 (n = 7), Iran 25,31-38 (n = 9), India 51-54 (n = 4), Tunisia 18,20,24 (n = 3), Thailand 19,29 (n = 2), Mexico 55 (n = 1), the Democratic Republic of Congo 56 (n = 1), Ghana 57 (n = 1), South Africa 58 (n = 1), Bangladesh 17 (n = 1), and Chile 46 (n = 1). In total, the studies consisted of 353,589 participants, with sample sizes ranging from 122 to 281,319.…”

“…Table 2 presents the 44 articles included in the systematic review. In the 17 articles describing the MetS, 11 showed higher MetS in post- than premenopause 15 , 19 , 20 , 27 , 34 , 40 , 41 , 45 , 49 , 56 , and 6 showed no differences 19 , 28 , 31 , 32 , 39 , 50 . In the 14 articles focused on obesity, 3 showed higher obesity risk in post- than premenopause, 29 , 35 , 46 and 11 showed no differences 17 , 22 , 24 , 29 , 30 , 37 , 48 , 55 , 57 , 58 .…”

“…Tables 1 and 2 show the characteristics of the 44 studies included in the systematic review. The studies were from the following countries: China [21][22][23]26,27,30,[39][40][41][42][43][44][45] (n = 13), Brazil 15,16,28,[47][48][49][50] (n = 7), Iran 25,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] (n = 9), India [51][52][53][54] (n = 4), Tunisia 18,20,24 FIG. 1.…”