Research Group for the Ecuadorian Climacteric & Menopause Society (SECLIM), Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Maturitas. 2010 Jul;66(3):298-304. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2010.03.019. Epub 2010 Apr 24.
Hot flushes (HFs) and night sweats are frequent complaints among both peri- and postmenopausal women. Beliefs regarding these complaints may vary from one population to another.
To assess HF beliefs and factors related to negative beliefs in a climacteric Hispanic population using the Hot Flush Beliefs Scale (HFBS).
A total of 1154 healthy women (40-59 years) were assessed with the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), those presenting HFs were requested to fill out the HFBS and a questionnaire containing socio-demographic data (female and partner).
A total of 646 presented HFs (56%) graded according to the first item of the MRS as mild (28.6%), moderate (33.2%), severe (29.1%) and very severe (9.1%). Mean age of these women was 49.5+/-5.2 years, with 51.9% having 12 or less years of education, 61.5% being postmenopausal and 47.2% living in high altitude. At the moment of the survey 13.9% were on HT, 12.8% on phytoestrogens and 7.1% on psychotropic drugs. Women strongly disagreed in more negatively oriented items of those contained in subscale one (beliefs about self in social context). Contrary to this, women strongly agreed in more negative oriented items contained in subscale two which assesses beliefs about coping with HFs. Women presenting with severe-very severe HFs displayed higher HFBS total and subscale scores indicating a more negative belief regarding HFs. Logistic regression analysis determined that HF severity was related to higher HFBS scores for the total and subscales one and two. Current smoking, higher parity, lower female education, female psychiatric consultation, time since menopause and partner unhealthiness and alcohol consumption were also related to higher HFBS scorings. Postmenopausal status and church attendance were related to lower scores.
In this mid-aged Ecuadorian female series negative beliefs regarding HFs were related to the severity of HFs and individual female or partner characteristics. Data provided from clinical research using this tool, alone or in combination with other tests, is warranted.
热潮（HFs）和盗汗是围绝经期和绝经后妇女常见的抱怨。对这些抱怨的看法可能因人群而异。
使用热潮信念量表（HFBS）评估绝经期西班牙裔人群中 HF 的信念和与负面信念相关的因素。
共评估了 1154 名健康女性（40-59 岁），使用绝经评分量表（MRS），出现 HFs 的女性被要求填写 HFBS 和一份包含社会人口统计学数据（女性和伴侣）的问卷。
共有 646 名出现 HFs（56%），根据 MRS 的第一项评定为轻度（28.6%）、中度（33.2%）、重度（29.1%）和极重度（9.1%）。这些女性的平均年龄为 49.5+/-5.2 岁，其中 51.9%接受过 12 年或以下的教育，61.5%处于绝经后状态，47.2%生活在高海拔地区。在调查时，13.9%的人正在接受激素治疗（HT），12.8%的人正在服用植物雌激素，7.1%的人正在服用精神药物。女性在第一亚量表中对那些更负面的项目强烈不同意（在社会背景下的自我信念）。与此相反，女性在第二亚量表中对那些评估应对 HFs 的信念的更负面的项目强烈同意。出现严重-极重度 HFs 的女性的 HFBS 总分和子量表得分较高，表明对 HFs 的信念更为负面。逻辑回归分析确定 HF 的严重程度与 HFBS 总分和子量表一和二的得分较高有关。当前吸烟、更高的生育次数、女性受教育程度较低、女性精神科就诊、绝经后时间以及伴侣不健康和饮酒与 HFBS 得分较高有关。绝经后状态和参加教堂活动与得分较低有关。
在这个中年厄瓜多尔女性系列中，对 HFs 的负面信念与 HFs 的严重程度以及女性或伴侣的个体特征有关。单独或与其他测试一起使用该工具进行临床研究提供的数据是合理的。
