Abstract
Objectives
A population-based study was used to describe healthcare seeking behavior for menopausal
symptoms and treatment among women 40–65 years old in the United States.
Methods
Participants were recruited into the Menopause Epidemiology Study from the KnowledgePanelSM, which is selected by random digit dialing and probability sampling from the US population.
From this source, 6201 women 40–65 years old were contacted and 4402 women participated.
From the 3135 peri- and postmenopausal women, detailed information was obtained on
menopausal symptoms, healthcare seeking, medication usage, and symptom relief from
the medication.
Results
Many women (60%) reported seeking health care for their menopausal symptoms. More
than half of these women sought health care in the past 12 months. Vasomotor symptoms
were the most frequently reported menopause symptoms across all races/ethnicities,
and the most common symptoms discussed with a health care professional. One-third
of the women (34%) used only hormone therapies, 12% used complementary and/or alternative
medicines, and 16% used both for treatment of menopausal symptoms.
Conclusions
This study has shown that a large number of women consult healthcare providers for
menopausal symptoms, indicating these symptoms are bothersome. Yet, in the United
States, there is considerable variation in the symptomatology, healthcare seeking,
and use of therapies for menopausal symptoms across cultures. To alleviate these symptoms
women have tried alternative treatments as well as hormone therapies, yet many women
did not get complete relief of specific symptoms.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 11, 2007
Accepted:
September 11,
2007
Received in revised form:
September 7,
2007
Received:
July 19,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
