Abstract
Objective
To assess the risk of onset of menopausal symptoms at different periods surrounding
menopause, and variations in this risk according to age at menopause and type of menopause.
Methods
We analyzed the 27,897 women participating in the French E3N cohort study who reached
menopause during a 10-year follow-up period (1990–2000). Self-administered questionnaires,
completed approximately every 24 months, included questions on the use of hormonal
treatments, reproductive factors, personal history of a variety of diseases and the
occurrence of personal medical events, including menopausal symptoms. Hazard ratios
(HRs) were computed from multivariate Cox models.
Results
When compared to the year preceding menopause, the risk of onset of menopausal symptoms
was higher in the year following menopause (for natural menopause (n = 25,753), HR = 1.22, 95% confidence interval: 1.17, 1.27, and for artificial menopause (n = 2,147), HR = 2.21, 95% CI: 1.93, 2.52). More than one year prior to menopause and more than one
year after, HRs were significantly below unity. The risk of onset of menopausal symptoms
in the year following menopause was 1.47-fold (95% CI: 1.31, 1.64) higher in women
having undergone an artificial menopause than in women who had had a natural menopause.
In other periods, the risks did not differ significantly according to type of menopause.
Those who experienced menopausal symptoms in the 1–5 year period following menopause
were more likely to have reached their menopause before 51 years.
Conclusions
The risk of onset of menopausal symptoms at different time periods surrounding menopause
varies according to both type of menopause and age at menopause.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 18, 2007
Accepted:
September 9,
2007
Received in revised form:
August 31,
2007
Received:
March 8,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
