Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Health status and utilization behavior associated with menopause.

J B McKinlay, S M McKinlay, D J Brambilla

American Journal of Epidemiology

|January 1, 1987

Summary

Menopause does not inherently cause poor health or increased healthcare use. Prior health status, not menopause itself, primarily influences outcomes, with surgical menopause having minimal impact.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

A multicentre study investigating vital sign changes occurring in complicated and uncomplicated transfusions.

Vox sanguinis·2017

Same author

Von Willebrand factor for menorrhagia: a survey and literature review.

Haemophilia : the official journal of the World Federation of Hemophilia·2016

Same author

The accuracy of substitution rules for health risk appraisals.

American journal of health promotion : AJHP·2011

Same author

Accounting for racial/ethnic variation in bone mineral content and density: the competing influences of socioeconomic factors, body composition, health and lifestyle, and circulating androgens and estrogens.

Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA·2011

Same author

Risk factors for inhibitor formation in haemophilia: a prevalent case-control study.

Haemophilia : the official journal of the World Federation of Hemophilia·2009

Same author

Relative contributions of multiple determinants to bone mineral density in men.

Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA·2009

Area of Science:

Reproductive Health
Epidemiology
Women's Health

Background:

Menopause is linked to age-related diseases in women.
Current understanding of menopause is based on limited, self-selected, often ill populations.
A stereotype of the "typical" menopausal woman with diffuse symptoms and high healthcare utilization prevails.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of menopause in a representative cohort.
To challenge the prevailing stereotype of menopausal women's health status and healthcare utilization.
To identify factors influencing health status and healthcare utilization around menopause.

Main Methods:

Prospective data collection over 27 months.
Study of a representative cohort of approximately 2,500 women aged 45-55 years in Massachusetts.
Analysis of perceived health status and healthcare utilization behavior.

Main Results:

Menopause itself does not cause poorer physical or psychological health status.
Menopause itself does not lead to increased healthcare utilization.
Surgical menopause is minimally associated with subsequent perceived health status and utilization.
Prior health status is the main predictor of health outcomes and healthcare utilization.

Conclusions:

The stereotype of the "typical" menopausal woman is not supported by data from representative samples.
Menopause is a physiological event that does not inherently worsen health or increase healthcare needs.
Future research requires representative samples of healthy women and prospective data for causal inference.

Related Experiment Videos