Psychologic distress and natural menopause: A multiethnic community study

Objectives. This study examined the association between psychologic distres s and natural menopause in a community sample of African American, White, C hinese, Hispanic, and Japanese women participating in a national women's he alth study. Methods. A cohort of 16065 women aged 40 to 55 years provided information o n menstrual regularity in the previous year, psychosocial factors, health, and somatic-psychologic symptoms. Psychologic distress was defined as feeli ng tense, depressed, and irritable in the previous 2 weeks. Results. Rates of psychologic distress were highest in early perimenopause (28.9%) and lowest in premenopause (20.9%) and postmenopause (22%). In comp arison with premenopausal women, early perimenopausal women were at a great er risk of distress, with and without adjustment for vasomotor and sleep sy mptoms and covariates. Odds of distress were significantly higher for White s than for the other racial/ethnic groups, Conclusions. Psychologic distress is associated with irregular menses in mi dlife. It is important to determine whether distress is linked to alteratio ns in hormone levels and to what extent a mood-hormone relationship may be influenced by socioeconomic and cultural factors.