Paper Authors and Title
Brianna Rice (Technological University of the Shannon), Patricia Heavey, “Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity and General Abdominal Obesity and Association with Menopause-Related Symptoms in Postmenopausal Women”
Abstract
Existing research demonstrates a data scarcity on the relationship between overweight, obesity and menopause-related symptoms in postmenopausal women, particularly in Ireland. This study aimed to determine whether there is an association between prevalence of weight and menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women.
Introduction
Menopause is the permanent cessation of the menstrual cycle, caused by reduced secretion of oestrogen and progesterone (Panay and BMS, 2022). Hot flushes, insomnia, vaginal dryness and anxiety are some symptoms of the menopause. Weight gain also occurs, but is not directly linked to the menopause individuals (Al-Safi and Polotsky, 2015). A woman is postmenopausal once she has not experienced a period in 12 months. Evidence suggests that there is a potential association between weight and menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women.
Methods
This cross-sectional study recruited postmenopausal women. Participants were assessed using validated questionnaires on lifestyle habits and menopausal symptoms using the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS). Height, weight and waist circumference (WC) were measured.
Results
26 women were analysed. 26.92% (n=7) had healthy BMIs, 38.46% (n=10) were overweight and 34.62% (n=9) were obese. WC measurements showed 11.54% (n=3) had a low risk of obesity-related conditions, 7.69% (n=2) were at risk and 80.77% (n=21) were at significant risk. Using one-way ANOVA, it was found that obese participants (10.667±3.801) had significantly higher psychological MRS scores compared to healthy BMI participants (6.571±0.904) (p=0.024). Significant relationships between exercise frequency total MRS (p<0.001) and somatic MRS scores (p<0.01) were noted.
Conclusions
These findings suggest there may be a potential relationship between BMI and psychological menopausal symptoms. Further research using a larger sample size is warranted.
Poster
Download and view Brianna Rice’s poster.