The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) scale: A methodological review

Abstract

BackgroundThis paper compiles data from different sources to get a first comprehensive picture of psychometric and other methodological characteristics of the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) scale. The scale was designed and standardized as a self-administered scale to (a) to assess symptoms/complaints of aging women under different conditions, (b) to evaluate the severity of symptoms over time, and (c) to measure changes pre- and postmenopause replacement therapy. The scale became widespread used (available in 10 languages).MethodA large multinational survey (9 countries in 4 continents) from 2001/ 2002 is the basis for in depth analyses on reliability and validity of the MRS. Additional small convenience samples were used to get first impressions about test-retest reliability. The data were centrally analyzed. Data from a postmarketing HRT study were used to estimate discriminative validity.ResultsReliability measures (consistency and test-retest stability) were found to be good across countries, although the sample size for test-retest reliability was small.Validity: The internal structure of the MRS across countries was astonishingly similar to conclude that the scale really measures the same phenomenon in symptomatic women. The sub-scores and total score correlations were high (0.7–0.9) but lower among the sub-scales (0.5–0.7). This however suggests that the subscales are not fully independent.Norm values from different populations were presented showing that a direct comparison between Europe and North America is possible, but caution recommended with comparisons of data from Latin America and Indonesia. But this will not affect intra-individual comparisons within clinical trials.The comparison with the Kupperman Index showed sufficiently good correlations, illustrating an adept criterion-oriented validity. The same is true for the comparison with the generic quality-of-life scale SF-36 where also a sufficiently close association has been shown.ConclusionThe currently available methodological evidence points towards a high quality of the MRS scale to measure and to compare HRQoL of aging women in different regions and over time, it suggests a high reliability and high validity as far as the process of construct validation could be completed yet.

Knowledge and Attitude towards Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy in Chinese Women

“…Apart from cultural differences, the reasons were considered to be the lower prevalence and less severity of menopausal symptoms in the Asian population [23,31]. Our prior meta-analysis estimated that 15% of women on HRT followed a physician's prescription [17].…”

Quality of life among menopausal women

“…In addition, the most severe symptoms were hot flashes and excessive sweating [10] . The frequency of symptoms can vary based on epidemiological characteristics of the population and the assessment tools used [11] . The effect of menopausal transition on women's lives is complex and includes changes in physical health, psychosomatic domains, and personal life.…”

Manejo terapéutico de la sintomatología climatérica

“…Cada ítem contiene cinco grados de severidad en la evaluación: asintomático (0 puntos), leve (1 punto), moderado (2 puntos), severo (3 puntos) e intenso (4 puntos); por lo tanto, el puntaje total oscila entre 0 (asintomática) y 44 (máximo). Heinemann y cols expresan que diversos estudios efectuados en diferentes países han permitido validar esta escala y estandarizar la intensidad total de la sintomatología en asintomática o escasa (0 a 4 puntos), leve (5 a 8 puntos), moderada (9 a 15 puntos), y severa (más de 16 puntos) (12,13) .…”