VASOMOTOR SYMPTOMS AND WELL-BEING IN THE CLIMACTERIC YEARS

Objectives: To determine more closely the relationship between vasomot or symptoms, well-being and climacteric status according to the last m enstrual bleeding and according to the women themselves. Methods: A po pulation-based cross-sectional study was executed using a postal quest ionnaire. Well-being of women with and without vasomotor symptoms was compared, for the different menopausal statuses. All 2729 women living in a commuter suburb of Rotterdam aged 45-60 years were approached of whom 1947 (71.3%) responded. Well-being was measured by the Inventory of Subjective Health (ISH) and three subscales of the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). Results: The results showed that the relationship betw een vasomotor symptoms and well-being was dependent on climacteric sta tus. Pre- and (middle and late) postmenopausal women with vasomotor sy mptoms more often experienced a relatively lower level of well-being c ompared to women without these symptoms. However, when the prevalence of vasomotor symptoms is as its peak, i.e. in late perimenopause, a di fference in the level of well-being between women with and without vas omotor symptoms was absent. Conclusions: It is concluded that well-bei ng and vasomotor symptoms were inversely related in all menopausal sta tuses except for the (late) perimenopausal phase. For this no somatic explanation seems plausible. A more social scientific explanation is s uggested.