Objectives: To describe the prevalence of, and degree of distress caused by, 15 symptoms commonly attributed to the menopause among a random sample of women aged 45 to 54, selected from the total population of a geographically defined area.
Design: Postal questionnaire survey.
Setting: Grampian Health Board area.
Participants: Eight thousand women, aged 45 to 54, randomly selected from the Grampian Community Health Index.
Main outcome measures: Self-reported symptoms, including depression, and use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) among women of differing menopausal status.
Results: The response rate was 78%; 57% of respondents had experienced one or more of the 15 symptoms listed, but only 22% had found such symptoms a problem. Women's experience of classic vasomotor and atrophic symptoms varied according to menopausal status but experience of general somatic and psychological symptoms did not. Users of HRT and women whose menopause was iatrogenic found more symptoms a problem.
Conclusions: Symptoms attributed to the menopause are common among women in the age group studied but often are not perceived as a problem. Among nonusers of HRT, only vasomotor and atrophic symptoms vary with menopausal status. Other somatic and psychological symptoms experienced by middle-aged women cannot be regarded as part of the same "menopausal syndrome'.