Chinese women's symptoms: relation to menopause, age and related attitudes

Objectives The China Study of Midlife Women (CSMW) aimed to determine in mid-life Chinese women, first, the frequency of various symptoms often included in studies of menopause or the climacteric, second, attitudes toward menopause and aging, and, third, the relationship between symptoms and menopau...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Climacteric : the journal of the International Menopause Society 2006-02, Vol.9 (1), p.30-39
Main Author: Shea, J. L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age
Age Factors
Aged
Aging
Aging - psychology
Asian people
Attitude to Health
Attitudes
China
China - epidemiology
Chinese Women
Female
Hot Flashes - epidemiology
Humans
Menopausal Status
Menopause
Menopause - psychology
Middle age
Middle Aged
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Symptoms
Women
Women's Health
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Summary:Objectives The China Study of Midlife Women (CSMW) aimed to determine in mid-life Chinese women, first, the frequency of various symptoms often included in studies of menopause or the climacteric, second, attitudes toward menopause and aging, and, third, the relationship between symptoms and menopausal status, chronological age and attitudes. Methods A questionnaire was administered via face-to-face interview to a general population sample of 399 Chinese women living in two communities in northern China. Results The Chinese women displayed a low to moderate frequency of reporting 21 symptoms across vasomotor, vaginal, sleep-related, cognitive, emotional and somatic categories. Their attitudes toward menopause and aging tended to be more positive, neutral or ambivalent, as opposed to negative. There was a small, statistically significant association between six symptoms and menopausal status, four symptoms and chronological age, and 11 symptoms and negative attitudes toward menopause and aging. Conclusions Across the measures utilized in this study, Chinese women's symptom reporting is more strongly associated with their attitudes towards menopause and aging than their menopausal status or chronological age. More research is needed on cross-cultural, cross-ethnic and individual variation in women's interpretations of statements often included in mid-life attitudinal scales.
ISSN:1369-7137
1473-0804
DOI:10.1080/13697130500499914