Perceived control over menopausal hot flushes: exploring the correlates of a standardised measure

A substantial minority of women report considerable distress during hot flushes. Coping with various chronic health problems has been related to perceived control in previous studies. Hence this study developed a standardised measure to investigate whether perceived control is associated with less distress during menopausal hot flushes.

The study presented a suitably re-worded 15-item scale (the Arthritis Helplessness Index, originally developed by Nicassio et al., J Rheumatol 1985;12:462-467. Scoring was reversed so that high scores signified greater perceived control. A volunteer sample of 43 women (mean age 51 years) completed the scale together with several further measures. A total of 35 women returned 12 month follow-up questionnaires.

The Perceived Control Index (PCI) scores correlated with standardised measures of self-esteem and simple self-ratings (0-100) of perceived control, and remained very stable over 12 months. Self-rated distress during flush episodes was more closely related to perceived control than to more objective factors such as flush frequency and chronicity.

These findings support further investigation into whether subjective coping with flushes may be improved by psychological interventions that enhance perceived control and self-esteem.