Objective:

To investigate the association between menopausal symptom burden and cognitive function in postmenopausal individuals.

Approach:

• Study Design: Cross-sectional observational study of 896 postmenopausal participants from the Canadian Platform for Research Online to Investigate Health (CAN-PROTECT).
• Participants: Included 895 women and 1 two-spirit individual, with a mean age of 64.2 years and average education level of 15.5 years.
• Assessment Tools: Participants completed questionnaires on menopause history, cognitive status (ECog-II scale), and behavioral symptoms (MBI-C checklist).

Key Findings:

• Greater menopausal symptom burden was significantly associated with poorer cognitive function.
• Each additional menopausal symptom was linked to a 5.37% higher ECog-II total score.
• Each symptom was associated with a 6.09% higher MBI-C score, indicating increased neuropsychiatric changes.
• 74.3% of participants reported experiencing at least one menopausal symptom, with hot flashes (88%) and night sweats (70%) being the most common.
• Hormone therapy use was reported by 24.9% of participants but was not significantly associated with cognitive function.
• The cohort included 667 participants with spontaneous menopause, 162 with menopause due to hysterectomy/oophorectomy, and 67 with menopause due to other medical reasons.
• The mean age of menopause onset was 49.4 years.

Interpretation:

The study suggests a dose-response relationship between the number of menopausal symptoms and cognitive and behavioral changes in later life.

Limitations:

• The symptom burden metric captured presence but not severity of symptoms.
• The cross-sectional nature of the study precludes causal inferences.
• No significant associations were found between cognitive or behavioral outcomes and menopause type or age of menopause onset.

Conclusion:

The results indicate a cumulative burden effect of menopausal symptoms on cognitive and behavioral outcomes.

Sources:

• PLOS ONE