Depression, anxiety and somatic symptoms in peri-and postmenopausal women

摘要

Terauchi and colleagues1 reported recently that, in Japanese peri- and postmenopausal women referred to a specialized Menopause Clinic for the treatment of climacteric symptoms, headaches were significantly associated with depression (odds ratio (OR) 1.49, 95% CI 1.06-2.10), whereas nausea and numbness were significantly associated with anxiety (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.15-2.39; OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.05-1.84; and OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.23-1.50, respectively). The analysis by Fisher's exact test revealed that the prevalence of all the six somatic symptoms investigated (nausea, dizziness, numbness, muscle and joint pains, tiredness, and headaches), as well as night sweats was significantly higher in women with depression and anxiety. Although nausea, dizziness, numbness, tiredness, night sweats and depression diagnosed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) showed a significant correlation with severe anxiety in the univariate logistic regression analysis, the only scores that were significant after adjustment in the multi-variate logistic regression analysis with stepwise variable selection procedure were those for nausea (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.15-2.39; p = 0.007), numbness (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.05-1.84; p = 0.020), and depression (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.23-1.50; p < 0.001). However, in contrast to all reports analyzing European and North American populations, there was no correlation between depression and the prevalence of hot flushes.