Mackey Sandra
National University of Singapore, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Block E3A, 7 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore 117574, Singapore.
Maturitas. 2009 Oct 20;64(2):114-8. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2009.08.001. Epub 2009 Aug 31.
To describe changes in the characteristics of women's menstrual cycles during the menopause transition and to identify whether such changes are perceived by women as being problematic.
A cross-sectional descriptive study using a community-based convenience sample of 119 women aged 37-70 years. Participants completed a questionnaire to obtain data on demographic characteristics, menopausal status and changes to menstrual flow, duration, frequency and regularity.
There was a common pattern of menstrual change which was of heavier, less frequent, irregular menstruation. Forty one percent of post-menopausal and 40% of women still in the menopause transition stated that, in terms of overall perception, the changes to menstruation experienced during the menopause transition were not problematic or disruptive. When specific change characteristics were examined, significant differences were found in duration of menses (p=0.014) and cycle irregularity (p=0.005) but no significant differences were found on the amount of flow (p=0.125) or frequency of cycles (p=0.142).
Increased duration and increased irregularity of occurrence of each period are problematic for women going through the menopause transition, however, increased amount of menstrual flow at each period and increased frequency of cycles are not problematic changes.
描述女性在绝经过渡期间月经周期特征的变化，并确定女性是否认为这些变化存在问题。
一项横断面描述性研究，采用基于社区的便利样本，选取了119名年龄在37 - 70岁之间的女性。参与者完成了一份问卷，以获取有关人口统计学特征、绝经状态以及经量、经期、周期频率和规律性变化的数据。
月经变化存在一种常见模式，即经量增多、频率降低、月经不规律。41%的绝经后女性和40%仍处于绝经过渡阶段的女性表示，就总体感受而言，绝经过渡期间经历的月经变化不存在问题或造成困扰。在检查具体变化特征时，发现经期时长（p = 0.014）和周期不规律性（p = 0.005）存在显著差异，但经量（p = 0.125）或周期频率（p = 0.142）未发现显著差异。
对于正在经历绝经过渡的女性来说，每个周期的经期延长和发生不规律性增加是有问题的，然而，每个周期的经量增加和周期频率增加并非有问题 的变化。
