[Joint pain in pre- and postmenopausal arthropathia climacterica]

The menopausal syndrome consists of a variety of psychic and physical signs of different intensity. At our outpatient department for climacteric complaints and osteoporosis prevention (1. Dept. of Gynecol. and Obstetrics, Vienna) 820 women, who have been consulting this department for the first time because of prevailing complaints or prophylactic reasons, were registered in the year 1986. In the course of this work we paid particular attention to the symptom "pain in a joint" as a sign of the beginning climacteric period. Referring to our patient population we tried to analyse epidemiologically the frequency and the degree of severity of menopausal arthritic pain as well as the therapeutical response to a hormone substitution therapy. To what extent an endocrinologic explanation can be found and which facts let us assume such a statement, we tried to demonstrate in the discussion.