Women's self-report of experiences in the menopause

This was a cross-sectional descriptive investigation designed to describe the symptoms reported by women in the perimenopausal transition. Seventy-eight women completed a 2-part questionnaire concerning their experiences with menopause. The first part contained an open-ended question asking the women to list symptoms that they attributed to menopause. The second portion contained a checklist of menopausal symptoms adapted from the Blatt menopausal Index and was administered after the women had returned the open-ended section. Severity of symptoms was assessed on both portions of the questionnaire. Analysis of the open-ended questionnaires revealed 45 different symptoms. The most frequently reported systems on the open-ended questionnaire were found on the checklist portion, as well. A significantly larger number of symptoms were retorted on the checklist and women who used hormones or vasoactive drugs rated their symptoms as more serve. Demographic data and lifestyle characteristics were analyzed; however, it was found that lifestyle traits did not affect the women's perceptions of menopausal experiences.