Decision-making for the treatment of climacteric symptoms using the Menopause Rating Scale

The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) is one of the most frequently used instruments to evaluate menopausal symptoms; however, no cut-off score is given that would indicate the need for treatment. Our goal was to determine such a cut-off score on the MRS, using as a standard a woman's own perception of her need for treatment in relation to the severity of her symptoms.

The sample comprised 427 healthy women aged 40-59 years who were not taking hormonal treatment. Based on the concept of quality of life, we considered that the patient required treatment if she herself believed that she required it, on the basis of the severity of at least one of her menopausal symptoms. To obtain an optimal MRS cut-off score associated with the need for treatment, an ROC curve analysis was performed.

The symptoms rated "very severe" on the MRS (i.e. that most require treatment) were physical and mental exhaustion (95.8% of women) and muscle and joint discomfort (95.1%). In total, 378 women (88.5%) considered that their symptoms required treatment. The ROC curve analysis determined that the optimal cut-off score on the MRS to indicate the need for treatment would be 14 (area under the curve 0.86, p < 0.0001). This score achieved 76.5% sensitivity and 83.6% specificity. With this cut-off score, 97.1% of the women who considered that they required treatment for at least one of their symptoms would be treated. There was concordance of more than 90% between this cut-off score and a score of 4 (i.e. a rating of "very severe") for any of the symptoms on the scale.

An MRS score ≥14 indicates the need for treatment for climacteric symptoms. In clinical practice, a score of 4 for any of the MRS items could be taken to indicate the need for treatment.