Retrospective self-report compared with menstrual diary data prospectively kept during the menopausal transition

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Endocrinology
• Women's Health Research
• Menopause Transition Studies

Background:

• Accurate assessment of menopausal status is crucial for clinical management and research.
• Self-reported menstrual cycle changes are commonly used to categorize women's menopausal transition.
• The reliability of this self-report method requires rigorous investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy of self-reported menstrual frequency and flow changes.
• To compare self-reported data with prospectively collected menstrual diary information.
• To determine the reliability of self-report in classifying menopausal status categories.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project (MWMHP) longitudinal study.
• Analyzed menstrual diary records for 72 women reporting recent menstrual periods.
• Calculated sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of interview-based self-reports against diary data.

Main Results:

• Self-reported changes in menstrual frequency and flow demonstrated low sensitivity.
• Interview responses showed poor agreement with standardized scores derived from menstrual diaries.
• The accuracy of self-reported data was significantly lower than prospectively recorded information.

Conclusions:

• Retrospective self-reporting of menstrual cycle alterations is not a dependable method.
• Actual changes in menstrual cycle parameters cannot be reliably measured through interview-based self-reports.
• Clinical and research reliance on self-reported menstrual data for menopausal status determination should be reconsidered.