Mishra Gita, Lee Christina, Brown Wendy, Dobson Annette
Research Centre for Gender and Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales.
Aust N Z J Public Health. 2002 Dec;26(6):563-70. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-842x.2002.tb00367.x.
To assess differences among the menopausal transitions and symptoms experienced by women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, according to their countries of birth.
Data from 8,466 women aged 45-50 in 1996, who responded to surveys in 1996 and 1998 and had not had a hysterectomy, were analysed. Women were categorised by country of birth and cross-sectionally by menopausal status at Survey 1 and 2, as well as longitudinally by transition through menopause between Surveys 1 and 2. Four endocrine-related and 10 general symptoms were assessed.
Women bom in Asia were twice as likely as Australian-bom women to be post-menopausal at Survey 1, twice as likely to become post-menopausal between surveys, less likely to remain peri-menopausal, and less likely to report hot flushes and night sweats. Odds ratios for each symptom at Survey 2 were near unity for all country of birth groups compared with Australian bom women, with or without adjustment for symptoms at Survey 1, menopausal transition category, behaviour, lifestyle and demographics.
Asian-born women entered menopause earlier and passed through it more quickly, but once this was taken into account all women showed the same prevalences of symptoms. There may be differences between ethnic groups that influence the timing of menopause, but the subjective experience appears similar.
The timing of menopause may be affected by biological or dietary differences. Asian-bom women's lower reported prevalence of symptoms may be explained by a more rapid peri-menopausal transition. With increasing numbers of Asian-Australian women reaching menopause, an understanding of country-of-birth differences has implications for public health.
根据出生国评估参与澳大利亚妇女健康纵向研究的女性在绝经过渡阶段及经历的症状方面的差异。
对1996年年龄在45 - 50岁、于1996年和1998年回复调查问卷且未接受子宫切除术的8466名女性的数据进行分析。根据出生国对女性进行分类，并在第一次和第二次调查时按绝经状态进行横断面分析，同时在第一次和第二次调查之间按绝经过渡情况进行纵向分析。评估了四种与内分泌相关的症状和十种一般症状。
在第一次调查时，出生在亚洲的女性绝经的可能性是出生在澳大利亚的女性的两倍，在两次调查之间绝经的可能性也是后者的两倍，处于围绝经期的可能性较小，报告潮热和盗汗的可能性也较小。与出生在澳大利亚的女性相比，在第二次调查时，无论是否对第一次调查时的症状、绝经过渡类别、行为、生活方式和人口统计学进行调整，所有出生国组中每种症状的优势比都接近1。
出生在亚洲的女性更早进入绝经且绝经过程更快，但考虑到这一点后，所有女性的症状患病率相同。不同种族之间可能存在影响绝经时间的差异，但主观体验似乎相似。
绝经时间可能受生物学或饮食差异影响。出生在亚洲的女性报告的症状患病率较低可能是由于围绝经期过渡更快。随着越来越多的亚裔澳大利亚女性进入绝经阶段，了解出生国差异对公共卫生具有重要意义。
