Menopausal transition symptoms in midlife women living with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue

Health Care Women Int. 2006 Aug;27(7):600-14. doi: 10.1080/07399330600803741.

Abstract

We aimed to determine how menopausal transition symptoms cluster across 216 midlife women with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndromes (FMS/CFS), or both and subsequently to compare symptom factor severity scores by menopausal status among these women and compare symptom reporting with prior community-based samples of women without obvious illness. We designed a cross-sectional telephone survey of 216 women aged 35 to 55, diagnosed with FMS/CFS, symptomatic in the prior 6 months, and without hysterectomy. Thirty-six of 61 symptoms loaded on five factors: aroused/anxious mood, depressed mood/withdrawal, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal (GI), and vasomotor. Peri- and postmenopausal women had higher symptom severity scores for musculoskeletal, GI, and vasomotor factors but not mood factors. Symptoms for the women we studied who had FMS/CFS clustered similar to those in previous community-based samples of midlife women without major illness; however, the number of women experiencing symptoms was much higher among our sample.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adult
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Comorbidity
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / epidemiology*
  • Female
  • Fibromyalgia / epidemiology*
  • Health Status*
  • Humans
  • Life Change Events
  • Menopause*
  • Middle Aged
  • Premenopause
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Women's Health*