The structure of menopausal syndrome: Using network analysis to understand unique symptomatic relationships

Abstract

Menopausal syndrome, which is a common and on-going problem among women during the menopausal transition, has negative effects on their mental health, body function, social life, and sense of well-being. [1][2][3] Menopausal syndrome is characterized by a variety of aspects, including somatic (e.g., vasomotor symptoms, insomnia, bone and joint pain), psychological (e.g., irritability, anxiety, memory loss), and urogenital (e.g., sexual problems, vaginal dryness) symptoms. 3 The growing concern for middle-aged women's menopausal syndrome has led to a large number of studies exploring effective strategies to manage these symptoms, and to improve the health and well-being in this group.Previous studies have examined the severity and prevalence of menopausal symptoms using measurements with summed item scores and/or individual item score. 4,5 However, none of these studies focused on the inner structure of menopausal syndrome of middle-aged women, including the central and bridge symptoms.Studies have looked at the associations between different menopausal symptoms. For example, hot flashes were significantly associated with vaginal dryness, where they were the most important and distressing symptoms among middle-aged women. 6 Studies

Treatment-induced menopause symptoms among women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy in China: a comparison to age- and menopause status–matched controls

“…The comparison group for this study was obtained from another published study that aimed to understand unique relationships among menopause symptoms using network analysis 2 . The comparison group comprised women aged 40 to 65 years recruited from Shandong Province, China, between 2017 and 2019.…”

“…Therefore, the final data analysis included 1,829 consenting participants. Additional details can be found in the previous study 2 …”

“…The comparison group for this study was obtained from another published study that aimed to understand unique relationships among menopause symptoms using network analysis. 2 The comparison group comprised women aged 40 to 65 years recruited from Shandong Province, China, between 2017 and 2019. To align with the study's focus on middle-aged women from the same region, women without breast cancer were included as the comparison group after adjusting for confounders.…”

“…Additional details can be found in the previous study. 2 Measures Group 1: women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy Sociodemographic characteristics included age, marital status (married or other [single, widowed, or divorced]), educational level (junior high school or lower, senior high school, and college or higher), household economic status (poor, fair, or good), residence (urban or rural), and occupational status (no or yes). Occupational status was measured using the question "Are you currently employed?"…”

“…ost middle-aged women inevitably experience menopause symptoms, such as vasomotor symptoms (VMS, hot flashes and night sweats), vaginal dryness, and irritability. 1,2 Menopause symptoms are a growing problem among women with breast cancer, 3,4 especially among those undergoing chemotherapy. 5 Moreover, the occurrence and severity of men-opause symptoms usually last for long periods, approximately 5 to 6 years after breast cancer diagnosis.…”