Psychologic Distress and Natural Menopause: A Multiethnic Community Study
Joyce T. Bromberger, PhD,
Peter M. Meyer, PhD,
Howard M. Kravitz, DO, MPH,
Barbara Sommer, PhD,
Adriana Cordal, MD,
Lynda Powell, PhD,
Patricia A. Ganz, MD and
Kim Sutton-Tyrrell, DrPH
Joyce T. Bromberger and Kim Sutton-Tyrrell are with the Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. Peter M. Meyer is with the Section of Biostatistics, Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Rush University, Chicago, Ill. Howard M. Kravitz is with the Departments of Psychiatry, Preventive Medicine, and Pharmacology, Rush Medical College, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Ill. Barbara Sommer is with the Psychology Department, University of California, Davis. Adriana Cordal is with the Department of Psychiatry, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ. Lynda Powell is with the Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Ill. Patricia A. Ganz is with the School of Public Health, School of Medicine, and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Joyce T. Bromberger, PhD, Departments of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (e-mail: brombergerjt{at}msx.upmc.edu).
Objectives. This study examined the association between psychologicdistress and natural menopause in a community sample of AfricanAmerican, White, Chinese, Hispanic, and Japanese women participatingin a national women's health study.
Methods. A cohort of 16 065 women aged 40 to 55 years providedinformation on menstrual regularity in the previous year, psychosocialfactors, health, and somaticpsychologic symptoms. Psychologicdistress was defined as feeling tense, depressed, and irritablein the previous 2 weeks.
Results. Rates of psychologic distress were highest in earlyperimenopause (28.9%) and lowest in premenopause (20.9%) andpostmenopause (22%). In comparison with premenopausal women,early perimenopausal women were at a greater risk of distress,with and without adjustment for vasomotor and sleep symptomsand covariates. Odds of distress were significantly higher forWhites than for the other racial/ethnic groups.
Conclusions. Psychologic distress is associated with irregularmenses in midlife. It is important to determine whether distressis linked to alterations in hormone levels and to what extenta moodhormone relationship may be influenced by socioeconomicand cultural factors.
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