The symptomatology of the climacteric in relation to hormonal and cytological factors

Climacteric symptomatology was investigated in a group of non-selected women aged between 54 and 56 years of age, Vasomotor complaints and dyspareunia, in particular, were noted and related to plasma hormone levels and vaginal cytology. Only 33% of those women who were within 5 years of the menopause had symptoms of a magnitude that might require hormone replacement therapy. Neither the vasomotor complaints nor dyspareunia correlated with the hormone levels or cytology findings to such an extent as to be helpful in planning treatment. Apparently only a minority of women in their middle 50s demonstrate a symptomatic need for hormone replacement therapy and laboratory investigations are of little use in their identification.