Menopausal Symptoms and Associated Social and Environmental Factors in Midlife Chinese Women

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the dependency of menopausal symptoms on age and/or menopausal status and association with social and environmental factors. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted on 4595 women (40–83 years) coming from 31 provinces during two years to our “Menopause Clinic”, the first official center in China. Menopausal symptoms were assessed: negative mood, cognitive symptoms, sleep disorder, vasomotor symptoms (VMS), urogenital symptoms, autonomic nervous disorder, limb pain/paresthesia. Social and environmental factors were collected; simple and unconditional logistic regression with adjustments by all analyzed factors were used to assess associations. RESULTS: Urogenital symptoms were the most common and VMS the least common complaints. All symptoms, except cognitive and urogenital symptoms, worsened age-dependently up to 60 years but improved beyond this age. Most symptoms also were associated with menopause, except negative mood and autonomic nervous disorders. Soya-rich diet decreased all symptoms, but only if consumed daily. Exercise was beneficial for some symptoms. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was most effective but only with regular use. Increased alcohol consumption aggravated VMS. Higher education was associated with less symptoms; no relationship was found for smoking, gravidity, parity, and menarche. CONCLUSION: All symptoms, except cognitive and urogenital symptoms, worsened age-dependently up to 60 years but improved beyond this age; most were also associated with menopause. For the first time in a large study population, it was observed that soy-rich diet is protective but only with daily consumption. Exercising can protect against some of the symptoms. HRT decreased all symptoms, but regular use is necessary. Women with higher education reported less symptoms, but after adjustments no other relationships were observed (ChiCTR2000035047).