Perceived control over menopausal hot flushes in mid-aged women.
BACKGROUND
Hot flushes (HFs) and night sweats are frequent complaints among both peri- and postmenopausal women. Perceived control of this complaint may vary from one population to another.


OBJECTIVE
To assess perceived control over menopausal HFs and determinant factors among mid-aged Ecuadorian women.


METHODS
In this cross-sectional study healthy women aged 40-59 years, seeking healthcare centres of eight main cities of Ecuador with more than 100,000 inhabitants, were assessed with the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) and those presenting HFs were requested to fill out the Perceived Control Index (PCI) and a questionnaire containing socio-demographic data (female and partner).


RESULTS
A total of 1154 women participated in this study of which 56% presented HFs (n = 646). According to the MRS, 29.1% and 9.1% of these HFs were graded as severe and very severe, respectively. Mean age of women presenting HFs was 49.5 +/- 5.2 years, with 51.9% having 12 years or less of education, 61.5% being postmenopausal and 47.2% living in high altitude. At the moment of the survey 13.9% were on hormone therapy, 12.8% on phytoestrogens and 7.1% on psychotropic drugs. There was a significant decreasing trend for PCI scores (total and difficulty in control items) from one menopausal stage to the next, with no differences observed for time since menopause onset. Despite this, logistic regression analysis determined that HF severity, as determined with the MRS, was the only single predictive factor related to lower HF perceived control (total PCI score <38) (OR: 1.83 CI 95% [1.15-2.90], p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
As determined with the PCI, HF severity was related to a lower perceived control among mid-aged women.
Chedraui
Peter
P
Research Group for the Ecuadorian Climacteric & Menopause Society (SECLIM), Ecuador. peterchedraui@yahoo.com
Pérez-López
Faustino R
FR
Aguirre
Wellington
W
Calle
Andrés
A
Hidalgo
Luis
L
León-León
Patricia
P
Miranda
Octavio
O
Martínez
Nalo
N
Mendoza
Marcela
M
Narváez
Jorge
J
Sánchez
Hugo
H
Schwager
Gino
G
Quintero
Juan C
JC
Zambrano
Branly
B
Leimberg
María L
ML
Vallarino
Varinia
V
Vega
Bernardo
B
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004484:Ecuador; D005260:Female; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires