Average woman experiences nearly seven symptoms of menopause plus other health concerns.


October 11, 2004 -- The following abstract was accepted and presented as a poster during the North American Menopause Society meeting held in Washington, D.C. on 10/9/04.
Significant findings from this study reveal that hot flashes are a prominent symptom in the majority of consumers with menopause symptoms. In addition, the average participant described nearly seven symptoms of menopause in women between 35 and 59 years of age. Also, issues of depression, irritability and anxiety were noted more commonly that breast and gynecological cancers.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine symptoms and health concerns reported by women searching for menopause information via the internet on a menopause educational site.

Design: Nine thousand nine hundred and twenty eight women signing up to receive an informational packet about menopause were asked to report symptoms and health concerns during a five month interval (6/03-10/03) in 2003. The information was collected via an online survey. The survey was broken down by 14 common menopause symptoms and 26 health concerns.

Results: Eighty six percent of respondents were between 35 - 59 years of age. The average participant reported nearly seven different symptoms. Seventy five percent of respondents noted hot flashes, while 72% noted mood changes, 71% irritability, 68% sleep disturbances and 64% night sweats.

Beside menopause, depression was noted in 36% as a major health concern and 27% noted irritability and anxiety. In contrast, 16% noted breast cancer and 8% noted gynecological cancers as a major health concern. Thirteen percent were concerned about heart disease and 19% were concerned about osteoporosis. Arthritis and migraine headaches were a source of concern in 33% and 26% respectively.

Conclusions: Hot flashes are the dominant symptom in over 75% of women experiencing symptoms. The average participant reported nearly seven symptoms of menopause, indicating a combination of symptoms is highly prevalent among women between 35 and 59 years of age.

Health concerns of mood disturbances, including depression, irritability and anxiety were noted more commonly than breast and gynecological cancers and heart disease by a ratio of greater than 2:1. Issues related to pain, such as arthritis and migraine headaches were noted in over one quarter of respondents.

John A. Sunyecz, M.D.
A.J. Drexler, B.A.
Pittsburgh, PA

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