Abstract
Objectives
Menopausal symptoms are common and affect the quality of life of menopausal women.
Menopausal symptoms are associated with age-related conditions. Sarcopenia, loss of
muscle mass and/or function, is also associated with several age-related conditions,
suggesting that the severity of menopausal symptoms may be associated with sarcopenia.
Therefore, we investigated the relationship between Kupperman index scores, a measure
of menopausal symptom severity, and muscle strength and quality in peri- and post-menopausal
women.
Study design
Cross-sectional study.
Main outcome measures
A total of 148 women participated. Biomarkers of metabolic risk factors were assessed
along with muscle mass as measured with Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry. Handgrip
strength was measured with isometric dynamometry. Muscle quality was calculated as
the ratio of strength to muscle mass in upper extremities.
Results
Kupperman index scores correlated with the depression scale, handgrip strength, and
specific force after adjusting for age and body mass index. Mean handgrip strength
and specific force decreased gradually according to menopausal symptom severity. Multivariate
logistic regression analysis showed that the fourth handgrip strength and specific
force quartiles were associated with the prevalence of severe menopausal symptoms
with adjusted odds ratios of 0.14 (95% confidence interval 0.03–0.68) and 0.09 (95%
confidence interval 0.03–0.47), respectively.
Conclusions
Lower handgrip strength was associated with severe menopausal symptoms. Although we
could not determine causality, muscle strength and quality during menopause may be
related to the severity of menopausal symptoms. Further interventional and experimental
studies are required to understand the clinical and pathophysiological significance
of our findings.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 24, 2013
Accepted:
June 8,
2013
Received in revised form:
June 7,
2013
Received:
March 11,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
