THE PREVALENCE AND SEVERITY OF CLIMACTERIC SYMPTOMS AND THE USE OF DIFFERENT TREATMENT REGIMENS IN A SWEDISH POPULATION

Objectives. To determine (i) the prevalence and severity of climacteri c symptoms, and (ii) the prevalence of treatment for climacteric compl aints, in a population based, random sample of Swedish women aged 46-6 2 years. Material and methods. A random sample of 5990 women from the birth cohorts 1946, 1942, 1938, 1934 and 1930, resident in the city of Goteborg, was obtained from the population register. The women were i nvited by letter to complete a questionnaire concerning general health , reproductive history, climacteric symptoms (severity graded on a sca le 0,1,2,3) and the treatment of climacteric complaints. The overall r esponse rate was 76%. Results. The prevalence of climacteric symptoms was as follows : vasomotor symptoms 53%, depression/irritability 57%, sleeping disturbance 52%, muscle/joint pain 57%, loss of libido 37% an d vaginal dryness 21%. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with medium p otency estrogens was currently being used by 13.4% and 7.7% were using low potency estrogens. Medium potency estrogens had previously been u sed by 14% and 6% had used low potency estrogens. HRT was reported to be effective against the most common climacteric complaints in 70%-90% . Non-hormonal treatment regimens had been used by 45% of the women an d 31-63% reported a positive effect on climacteric symptoms. Conclusio ns. Although the majority of peri- and postmenopausal women reported s uffering from climacteric complaints only 21% were current users of es trogens. Non-hormonal treat ment modalities had been used by 45% of th e women and were reported to have a good effect on climacteric symptom s in 45% compared to up to 90% of the HRT users.