PREVALENCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AMONG POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN ATTENDING A MENOPAUSAL CLINIC AND THE EFFECT OF HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPYON THEIR MENTAL STATE

Forty-eight women in natural or surgical menopause, who attended a men opausal-gynecological clinic, were examined before starting any treatm ent by a psychiatrist using the General Health Questionnaire-28 and th e Hamilton scales for anxiety and depression, to measure the degree of their psychological distress. This degree was relatively high, especi ally for women in surgical menopause. After 6 months, in which 36 of t he attendees received hormone replacement therapy, the psychiatric ass essment was repeated and much lower levels of distress were found, so that in no case was psychiatric treatment needed. This improvement in psychological state could perhaps partly be attributed to the attentio n of the special setting, but is probably a result of the hormone repl acement therapy.