Psychosocial Adjustment in Post-menopausal Women

Abstract

The menopause is defined as cessation of menses for longer than six months. Most women experience the menopause at about 50 years of age, and it is estimated that 30% of the population will be menopausal by the year 2000. Recently there has been considerable interest in the relation between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women and the incidence of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and cancer of the breast and endometrium. Of equal importance is the effect of menopause and related therapies on the quality of life of these women. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychosocial adjustment to menopause in subjects enrolled in a trial of hormone replacement and in subjects attending a family practice unit. In addition, the effects of different HRT regimes on the quality of life of menopausal women were compared. The results of bone mass measurements showing increased bone mass for HRT groups are reported elsewhere (Blake, Chambers, Roberts & Webber, 1993). Literature Review The research literature on menopause is vast and the subject has been broached by different disciplines. The findings are divergent. It was suggested by Wilson and Wilson (1963) that estrogen solves all the problems of the post-menopausal woman. Utian (1972), on the other hand, concluded that only hot flushes and atrophic vaginitis were directly associated with estrogen deficiency; depression, irritability, angina pectoris, insomnia, palpitations as well as other reported signs, were not.