Objective: To identify symptoms experienced in a cohort of healthy women in
the late reproductive years; to compare symptom reports between African Am
erican and Caucasian women; and to determine the extent to which other Fact
ors in reproductive health, mood and behavior, lifestyle, and demographic b
ackground are associated with the reported symptoms.
Design: A cohort of women aged 35 to 47 years (mean age, 41 years) was iden
tified through random digit dialing. This study is a cross-sectional analys
is of data collected at enrollment from a subset of 308 women who completed
daily symptom reports (DSR) for one menstrual cycle. Data were obtained in
structured interviews and self-administered standard questionnaires. The a
ssociations of the study variables with symptoms as assessed by the DSR wer
e examined using analysis of variance and general linear models.
Results: The African American women were significantly more likely to repor
t in interview that they experienced menopausal symptoms (46% vs. 30%; p <
0.001) and had significantly higher ratings on the physiological symptom fa
ctor of the DSR, which included hot flashes, dizziness, poor coordination/c
lumsiness, urine leaks, and vaginal dryness. The DSR yielded two other fact
ors of psychological and somatic symptoms. Race was associated only with th
e physiological symptom factor in the multivariable analyses. Neither race
nor age were associated with psychological symptoms, which were predicted b
y current or past mood problems.
Conclusions: Symptoms commonly associated with the menopause are experience
d in the late reproductive years before observable changes in menstrual cyc
les. African American women reported more physiological symptoms than white
women. These data provide an essential baseline for longitudinal study of
symptoms associated with the ovarian decline in the perimenopausal years.