Table 2.
Prevalence of individual menopausal symptoms in normal, overweight, and obese perimenopausal and postmenopausal subjects
| Components | Perimenopause | Postmenopause | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Overweight | Obesity | p-value | Normal | Overweight | Obesity | p-value | |
| (n = 293) | (n = 127) | (n = 113) | (n = 184) | (n = 94) | (n = 118) | |||
| Vasomotor symptoms, yes | ||||||||
| 1. Hot flushes or flashes | 137 (46.8) | 51 (40.2) | 66 (58.4) | 0.017 | 113 (61.4) | 56 (59.6) | 87 (73.7) | 0.046 |
| 2. Night sweats | 96 (32.8) | 35 (27.6) | 36 (31.9) | 0.567 | 84 (45.7) | 41 (43.6) | 63 (53.4) | 0.292 |
| 3. Sweating | 118 (40.3) | 37 (29.1) | 51 (45.1) | 0.028 | 93 (50.5) | 49 (52.1) | 78 (66.1) | 0.022 |
| Psychosocial symptoms, yes | ||||||||
| 4. Being dissatisfied with my personal life | 145 (49.5) | 64 (50.4) | 53 (46.9) | 0.852 | 108 (58.7) | 56 (59.6) | 79 (67.0) | 0.328 |
| 5. Feeling anxious or nervous | 181 (61.8) | 74 (58.3) | 63 (55.8) | 0.506 | 133 (72.3) | 63 (67.0) | 82 (69.5) | 0.649 |
| 6. Experiencing poor memory | 244 (83.3) | 103 (81.1) | 92 (81.4) | 0.828 | 161 (87.5) | 83 (88.3) | 111 (94.1) | 0.167 |
| 7. Accomplishing less than I used to | 227 (77.5) | 98 (77.2) | 88 (77.9) | 0.991 | 148 (80.4) | 77 (81.9) | 98 (83.1) | 0.845 |
| 8. Feeling depressed, down or blue | 183 (62.5) | 75 (59.1) | 65 (57.5) | 0.607 | 127 (69.0) | 59 (62.8) | 82 (69.5) | 0.505 |
| 9. Being impatient with other people | 179 (61.1) | 73 (57.5) | 71 (62.8) | 0.676 | 128 (69.6) | 58 (61.7) | 81 (68.6) | 0.394 |
| 10. Feeling of wanting to be alone | 164 (56.0) | 68 (53.5) | 64 (56.6) | 0.868 | 110 (59.8) | 54 (57.5) | 81 (68.6) | 0.181 |
| Physical symptoms, yes | ||||||||
| 11. Flatulence (wind) or gas pains | 168 (57.3) | 77 (60.6) | 67 (59.3) | 0.807 | 111 (60.3) | 56 (59.6) | 71 (61.0) | 0.978 |
| 12. Aching in muscles and joints | 214 (73.0) | 96 (75.6) | 92 (81.4) | 0.213 | 139 (75.5) | 70 (74.5) | 99 (83.9) | 0.158 |
| 13. Feeling tired or worn out | 255 (87.0) | 103 (81.1) | 95 (84.1) | 0.281 | 157 (85.3) | 78 (83.0) | 98 (83.1) | 0.822 |
| 14. Difficulty sleeping | 165 (56.3) | 62 (48.8) | 67 (59.3) | 0.223 | 124 (67.4) | 57 (60.6) | 79 (67.0) | 0.501 |
| 15. Aches in back of neck or head | 227 (77.5) | 95 (74.8) | 85 (75.2) | 0.797 | 149 (81.0) | 74 (78.7) | 98 (83.1) | 0.726 |
| 16. Decrease in physical strength | 247 (84.3) | 102 (80.3) | 95 (84.1) | 0.585 | 158 (85.9) | 76 (80.9) | 100 (84.8) | 0.547 |
| 17. Decrease in stamina | 283 (81.2) | 105 (82.7) | 91 (80.5) | 0.905 | 158 (85.9) | 74 (78.7) | 94 (79.7) | 0.223 |
| 18. Feeling a lack of energy | 239 (81.6) | 104 (81.9) | 89 (78.8) | 0.781 | 155 (84.2) | 78 (83.0) | 99 (83.9) | 0.964 |
| 19. Dry skin | 257 (87.7) | 114 (89.8) | 95 (84.1) | 0.404 | 157 (85.3) | 80 (85.1) | 98 (83.1) | 0.856 |
| 20. Weight gain | 212 (72.4) | 109 (85.8) | 101 (89.4) | <0.001 | 129 (70.1) | 82 (87.2) | 106 (89.8) | <0.001 |
| 21. Increased facial hair | 73 (24.9) | 33 (26.0) | 37 (33.6) | 0.199 | 61 (33.2) | 32 (34.0) | 44 (37.3) | 0.756 |
| 22. Changes in appearance, texture or tone of skin | 240 (81.9) | 103 (81.1) | 92 (81.4) | 0.979 | 165 (89.7) | 79 (84.0) | 98 (83.1) | 0.198 |
| 23. Feeling bloated | 180 (61.4) | 91 (71.7) | 88 (77.9) | 0.003 | 121 (65.8) | 65 (69.2) | 94 (79.7) | 0.033 |
| 24. Low backache | 138 (47.1) | 69 (54.3) | 63 (55.8) | 0.188 | 102 (55.4) | 56 (59.6) | 71 (60.2) | 0.665 |
| 25. Frequent urination | 201 (68.6) | 80 (63.0) | 80 (70.8) | 0.388 | 137 (74.5) | 72 (76.6) | 85 (72.0) | 0.749 |
| 26. Involuntary urination when laughing or coughing | 198 (67.6) | 90 (70.9) | 84 (74.3) | 0.395 | 124 (67.4) | 63 (67.0) | 85 (72.0) | 0.644 |
| Sexual symptoms, yes | ||||||||
| 27. Change in sexual desire | 188 (64.2) | 86 (67.7) | 83 (73.5) | 0.200 | 148 (80.4) | 71 (77.7) | 86 (72.9) | 0.308 |
| 28. Vaginal dryness during intercourse | 183 (62.5) | 78 (61.4) | 73 (64.6) | 0.873 | 155 (84.2) | 77 (81.9) | 89 (75.4) | 0.157 |
| 29. Avoiding intimacy | 191 (65.2) | 83 (65.4) | 78 (69.0) | 0.752 | 147 (79.9) | 74 (78.7) | 89 (75.4) | 0.651 |
The data are presented as n(%)
P-values were calculated using Chi-squared test
Body mass index (BMI) was categorized as normal (18.5–22.9 kg/m2), overweight (23–24.9 kg/m2), and obese (≥25 kg/m2)
The prevalence of each of the 29 individual component symptoms was determined by considering Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) scores of 1 and 2–8 to mean ‘no symptom’ and ‘experienced symptom’, respectively