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- Menopausal symptoms: Do life events predict severity of symptoms in peri- and post-menopause?Publication . Pimenta, Filipa; Leal, I.; Marôco, J. P.; Ramos, CatarinaObjective: Hormonal changes during menopausal transition are linked to physical and psychological symptoms’ emergence. This study aims to explore if life events predict menopausal symptoms. Methods: This cross-sectional research encompasses a community sample of 992 women who answered to socio-demographic, health, menopause-related and lifestyle questionnaires; menopausal symptoms and life events were assessed with validated instruments. Structural equation modeling was used to build a causal model. Results: Menopausal status predicted only three symptoms: skin/facial hair changes (B = .136; p = .020), sexual (B = .157; p = .004) and, marginally, vasomotor symptoms (B = .094; p = .054). Life events predicted depressive mood (B = −.391; p = .002), anxiety (B = −.271; p = .003), perceived cognitive impairment (B = −.295; p = .003), body shape changes (B = −.136; p = .031), aches/pain (B = −.212; p = .007), skin/facial hair changes (B = −.171; p = .021), numbness (B = −.169; p = .015), perceived loss of control (B = −.234; p = .008), mouth, nails and hair changes (B = −.290; p = .004), vasomotor (B = −.113; p = .044) and sexual symptoms (B = −.208; p = .009). Conclusions: Although women in peri- and post-menopausal manifested higher symptoms’ severity than their pre-menopausal counterparts, only three of the menopausal symptoms assessed were predicted by menopausal status. Since the vast majority of menopausal symptoms’ severity was significantly influenced by the way women perceived their recent life events, it is concluded that the symptomatology exacerbation, in peri- and post-menopausal women, might be due to life conditions and events, rather than hormonal changes (nonetheless, the inverse influence should be investigated in future studies). Therefore, these should be accounted for in menopause-related clinical and research settings.
- Menopause Symptoms’ Severity Inventory (MSSI-38): Assessing the frequency and intensity of symptomsPublication . Pimenta, Filipa; Leal, I.; Ramos, CatarinaObjectives Menopausal instruments usually assess the frequency or intensity of symptoms. The present study develops and validates an inventory to assess the severity of menopausal symptoms through the measurement of their frequency and intensity, and explores the differences between women with different menopausal status. Methods A community sample of 992 Portuguese women in pre-, peri- and postmenopause completed the proposed inventory with 47 items. Factor exploratory and confi rmatory analyses, and comparative statistics for paired and independent samples, were applied using PASW Statistics v.19 and AMOS v.18 software. Results The fi nal structure with 38 items organized in 12 factors showed overall good psychometric properties (in terms of factor analysis, convergent, discriminant and criterion validity, as well as regarding reliability, sensitivity, and measure invariance in two different and independent samples). The Wilcoxon test confi rmed signifi cant differences between frequency and intensity of symptoms. Moreover, peri- and postmenopausal women in this community sample presented low symptom severity (ranging from 0.4 to 1.4 in a scale from 0 to 4). Although postmenopausal participants presented higher levels (when compared with their perimenopausal counterparts), the two groups only diverged signifi cantly in some physical symptoms (namely, aches and pain, vasomotor symptoms, numbness, skin and facial hair changes, urinary and sexual symptoms). Conclusion This research emphasizes that severity measurement of symptoms should account for both frequency and intensity. Moreover, it contributes a fully validated 12-dimenson inventory for menopausal symptoms, the Menopause Symptoms ’ Severity Inventory-38. Regarding differences between peri- and postmenopausal women, the increment in symptoms only happens in physical symptoms, although the severity levels are not exacerbated.
- Predictors of weight variation and weight gain in peri- and post-menopausal womenPublication . Pimenta, Filipa; Marôco, J. P.; Ramos, Catarina; Leal, I.This research encompasses a community sample of 497 women in peri- and post-menopause and uses structural equation modelling to investigate the structural models of weight variation and weight gain. Variables such as body shape concerns, depression, stress and life events are explored. Weight gain (from pre-menopause to current menopausal status) was observed in 69 per cent of participants. The predictors of weight gain were lower education level (β = −.146, p = .017), less or no physical exercise (β = −.111, p = .021), having a recent psychological problem (β = .191, p < .001), transition from peri- to post-menopause (β = .147, p = .013) and more frequent body shape concerns (β = .313, p < .001). Prevention of weight gain in premenopause is recommended; risk groups should be targeted considering the predictors of weight increase.
- Representations and perceived consequences of menopause by peri- and post-menopausal portuguese women: A qualitative researchPublication . Pimenta, Filipa; Leal, I.; Marôco, J. P.; Ramos, CatarinaOur aim in conducting this study is to describe the representations and perceived consequences of menopause, elicited through a semistructured interview with 36 Portuguese women, in peri- and post-menopause. The most prevalent response of the interviewed women was to see menopause as a normal/neutral phase of their life cycle (28.3%). Menses’ cessation (58.7%) was identified as the most prevalent positive consequence of menopause, and a range of psychological changes (18.3%) was the most mentioned negative consequence. Health care provider’s awareness of women’s attitudes will allow them to communicate more effectively and to reinforce women’s positive attitudes.