TABLE 2—
Unadjusted Associations of Vasomotor Symptoms (VMS) With Demographic, Lifestyle, and Psychosocial Characteristics at Baseline: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, 1996–1997
| No VMS or VMS for < 6 Days at Baseline (n=2835) | VMS for ≥6 Days at Baseline (n=363) | P | |
| Categorical variable, % | |||
| Ethnicity | <.0001 | ||
| White | 48.7 | 43.5 | |
| African American | 27.0 | 38.0 | |
| Hispanic | 8.8 | 10.5 | |
| Chinese | 8.1 | 4.7 | |
| Japanese | 7.4 | 3.3 | |
| Education | <.0001 | ||
| Less than high school | 6.9 | 10.8 | |
| High school | 17.3 | 20.8 | |
| Some college | 31.1 | 38.3 | |
| College | 20.8 | 13.1 | |
| More than college | 23.9 | 16.9 | |
| Annual household income, $ | <.0001 | ||
| < 20 000 | 14.1 | 25.6 | |
| 20 000–34 999 | 16.1 | 16.0 | |
| 35 000–49 999 | 18.2 | 13.4 | |
| 50 000–74 999 | 22.7 | 25.1 | |
| ≥75 000 | 28.9 | 19.9 | |
| Difficulty paying for basics | <.0001 | ||
| Very difficult | 8.5 | 16.6 | |
| Somewhat difficult | 30.0 | 33.4 | |
| Not very difficult | 61.5 | 50.0 | |
| Employed | 81.3 | 75.2 | <.01 |
| Marital status | .2 | ||
| Single | 13.5 | 14.5 | |
| Married/partnered | 66.4 | 60.9 | |
| Separated | 4.7 | 7.0 | |
| Widowed | 2.0 | 2.2 | |
| Divorced | 13.4 | 15.4 | |
| Parous | 82.3 | 86.4 | .05 |
| Current smoker | 16.3 | 26.7 | <.0001 |
| Environmental tobacco smoke exposure, no. of person-hours/wk | <.01 | ||
| None | 45.4 | 39.6 | |
| 1–4 | 26.6 | 23.4 | |
| ≥5 | 28.0 | 37.0 | |
| Language used in reading/speaking | .6 | ||
| Other than English | 9.2 | 8.9 | |
| Bilingual | 7.2 | 5.8 | |
| English only | 83.6 | 85.3 | |
| No. of previous premenstrual symptomsa | <.0001 | ||
| None | 5.8 | 3.0 | |
| 1 | 10.9 | 5.2 | |
| 2 | 20.1 | 14.9 | |
| 3 | 29.4 | 30.9 | |
| 4 | 33.8 | 46.0 | |
| Depressive symptoms (score ≥16) | 21.7 | 46.3 | <.0001 |
| Baseline anxiety (summed score ≥4) | 19.1 | 53.6 | <.0001 |
| Continuous variable, mean (median) | |||
| Age, y | 46.2 (46.0) | 47.1 (47.1) | <.0001 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 28.1 (26.5) | 30.9 (29.6) | <.0001 |
| Physical activity score (range: 3–14) | 7.7 (7.6) | 7.3 (7.3) | <.001 |
| Alcohol consumption per day, kcal | 42.7 (6.6) | 41.6 (0.0) | <.01 |
| Daily genistein intake, μg | 1671.8 (3.9) | 1282.9 (1.7) | .03 |
| Daily caffeine consumption, mg | 237.9 (172.6) | 255.3 (190.2) | .19 |
| Symptom sensitivity score at first follow-up visit (range: 0–20) | 10.1 (10.0) | 11.0 (11.0) | <.0001 |
| Social support score (range: 0–16) | 12.4 (13.0) | 11.7 (12.0) | <.01 |
| Perceived stress score (range: 4–20) | 8.5 (8.0) | 9.5 (10.0) | <.0001 |
Note. In the case of continuous variables, P values are for medians.
aAbdominal cramps, breast tenderness, bloating, or mood changes.