National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland.
BMC Womens Health. 2012 Dec 21;12:44. doi: 10.1186/1472-6874-12-44.
Very little data are available on the natural course or level of disturbance of vasomotor symptoms among middle-aged women. Using readily collected trial data we studied the persistence of vasomotor symptoms among untreated women.
In a trial comparing combined hormone therapy to placebo or no treatment (control groups), a cohort of women aged 50-59 at recruitment were followed annually by questionnaires. Women in the control groups (n = 486) were grouped by the number of years followed, with the prevalence and severity of symptoms calculated both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.
About two thirds of the women (67%) reported vasomotor symptoms and half (46%) bothersome symptoms at recruitment. In the cross-sectional analysis, their prevalence declined between recruitment and 1-year follow-up (32% bothersome symptoms) and 2-year follow-up (27%). Thereafter it remained about the same level. In the longitudinal analysis, there was a notable variation in the prevalence of disturbing vasomotor symptoms over time, time entering the study and the compliance to the surveys. In the two groups having most follow-up times, the proportion of women with bothersome symptoms first increased and then decreased.
There was a notable variability in the development of disturbing vasomotor symptoms over time in a selected group of women aged 50-59. Population-based follow-up studies of untreated women would be useful to estimate the symptom burden.
关于中年女性血管舒缩症状的自然病程或紊乱程度，数据很少。我们利用易于收集的试验数据，研究了未经治疗的女性血管舒缩症状的持续存在情况。
在一项比较联合激素治疗与安慰剂或不治疗（对照组）的试验中，招募时年龄在 50-59 岁的一组女性每年通过问卷调查进行随访。对照组（n=486）的女性按随访年限分组，分别进行横断面和纵向分析，计算症状的发生率和严重程度。
约三分之二的女性（67%）在招募时报告有血管舒缩症状，其中一半（46%）有症状困扰。在横断面分析中，其发生率在招募时和 1 年随访（32%有症状困扰）和 2 年随访时（27%）下降。此后，其水平保持不变。在纵向分析中，令人注意的是，在研究期间，随着时间的推移，令人困扰的血管舒缩症状的发生率有明显的变化，且与时间进入研究和对调查的依从性有关。在随访时间最长的两组中，有症状困扰的女性比例先增加后减少。
在一组 50-59 岁的选定女性中，血管舒缩症状的发生在时间上有明显的变化。对未经治疗的女性进行基于人群的随访研究，有助于估计症状负担。
