RISK-FACTORS FOR MENOPAUSAL HOT FLASHES

Objective: To find predictors of hot flashes at natural menopause. Met hods: A cross-sectional sample of 334 black and white, naturally menop ausal women was selected from a control group in a population-based st udy of reproductive cancers in central North Carolina. Women reported whether they had experienced hot flashes at the time of menopause. Lif e-style factors and reproductive histories of those with and without h ot flashes were compared. Results: Compared to women who were older at menopause, those reporting natural menopause before age 52 years had a significantly increased probability of having hot flashes (prevalenc e ratio 1.5, P = .04). Less than a high school education was significa ntly related to an increased probability of hot flashes (prevalence ra tio 1.4, P = .02). There was significant interaction between cigarette smoking and body mass index (BMI), so that thin women who smoked in t he premenopausal period were most likely to experience hot flashes (pr evalence ratio 1.9, P = .03). Among non-smokers, BMI appeared to have no effect on the probability of hot flashes. Alcohol use, although not statistically significant, suggested a positive relation with hot fla shes over and above that incurred from smoking. In addition, menarche before the age of 12 (prevalence ratio 0.6, P = .08) and a history of irregular menstrual cycles (prevalence ratio 0.6, P = .08) were margin ally related to a decreased prevalence of hot flashes. Race, parity, a nd age at first and last pregnancy had no relation to hot flashes. Con clusion: Socioeconomic factors and those related to the decline of est rogen production are related to the occurrence of hot flashes at the t ime of menopause.