Table 5.
Methods of assessment of vasomotor symptoms
| First author and publication year | VMS any vs none | VMS frequency | VMS severity | Additional comments | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aguilar-Zavala 2012 | NA | NA | Severity of current hot flashes (slight = 1 to severe = 3) | (30) | |
| Butts 2012 | Hot flashes within past month assessed at 1 visit | Hot flashes within past mo. | Hot flashes 0 (none)-4 (severe) | (20) | |
| Candrakova 2018 | “Vasomotor symptoms,” time horizon and specific definition of “vasomotor” not described | NA | NA | Kaczmarek 2007 questionnaire (Poland) | (21) |
| Crandall 2017 | Hot flashes and/or night sweats, ever vs never, assessed at baseline | NA | NA | (22) | |
| Crandall 2006 | NA | ≥ 6 d vs < 6 d of any VMS (hot flashes, cold sweats, night sweats) in past 2 wks, assessed annually for 7 visits (repeated-measures analysis) | NA | (23) | |
| Kapoor 2019, meeting abstract | NA | NA | VMS severity specified in “Methods” in abstract, further details not stated, but “Results” specifies “hot flash severity,” not VMS severity | Menopause Rating Scale questionnaire | (24) |
| Luptakova 2012 | NA | NA | Hot flashes and night sweats separately scored 1 (weakly affected) to 7 (extremely affected) | Scale developed Kaczmarck et al | (29) |
| Malacara 2004 | Hot flashes yes vs no, time horizon not specified | NA | NA | (25) | |
| Massad-Costa 2008 | NA | NA | Hot flushes scored mild = 4, moderate = 8, severe = 12, time frame for hot flushes not stated | Kupperman Menopause Index | (26) |
| Montasser 2015 | Hot flashes ever/never | Hot flashes daily, weekly, or monthly; duration of mos/y of hot flashes | NA | (27) | |
| Rebbeck 2010 | Hot flashes in past month, assessed at 9-mo intervals (11-y follow-up) | Hot flash frequency in past month, assessed at 9-mo intervals (11-y follow-up) | Hot flashes severity in past month (0 = none to 4 = severe), assessed at 9-mo intervals (11-y follow-up) | (3) | |
| Schilling 2007 | “Menopausal symptoms” by survey, no further details stated, time window not stated | “Menopausal symptoms” by survey, frequency assessed including “at least weekly,” no further details stated, beginning of time window not stated but hot flashes for ≥ 1 y assessed | “Menopausal symptoms” by survey, severity categories of moderate or severe, no further details stated, time window not stated | (28) | |
| Schneider 2009 | Ever or never experienced hot flashes, currently experiencing hot flashes in past 2 wks, yes or no | NA | NA | (19) | |
| Takeo 2005 | Hot flushes yes/no currently | Hot flush index reflecting frequency and severity; daily frequency at time of maximal symptoms (5 levels) | 5-point scale of hot flush severity (1 = none to 5 = debilitating) | (18) | |
| Visvanathan 2005 | Hot flushes ever vs never, hot flushes in past 30 d | Number of hot flushes in past 30 d, frequency of hot flushes, duration of hot flushes | Severity of hot flushes | (17) | |
| Woods 2018 | NA | NA | Hot flashes from 3-d symptoms diary regarding hot flashes over past 24 h, scored from 0 = not present to 4 = extreme), 3-d rating averaged together | (16) | |
| Woods 2006 | NA | NA | Hot flashes and cold sweats from 3-d symptoms diary regarding symptoms over past 24 h, scored from 0 = not present to 4 = extreme), 3-d rating averaged together | (15) | |
| Ziv-Gal 2012 | Ever experienced hot flashes | Hot flash frequency daily, weekly, or monthly (time window not specified); hot flash duration (no. of mos/y) | Hot flash severity mild, moderate, or severe (time window not specified) | (14) |
Abbreviations: NA, not applicable to the citation; VMS, vasomotor symptoms.