Mental health of patients visiting an outpatient menopause clinic

OBJECTIVE: It is understood that psychological factors affect climacteric disturbances. However, details behind these issues remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the mental health of climacteric patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The subjects were 127 Japanese women who visited our outpatient menopause clinic, complaining chiefly of climacteric disturbances. There were 38 premenopausal patients included. The responses to the HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and the SDS (Self-rating Depression Scale), obtained at the first examination, were compared with HADS data from 2,943 healthy women and 94 patients hospitalized to receive gynecological surgery. RESULTS: The HADS score and the SDS score of the outpatients of the menopause clinic showed a relatively high (statistically significant) correlation. The average HADS total, anxiety and depression scores for these patients were significantly higher than those for healthy controls. The total and depression scores were also significantly higher than those for patients hospitalized to undergo surgery for benign conditions, and were comparable to those for patients with malignant conditions. The comparison between pre- and postmenopausal patients showed that the premenopausal group was more likely to be depressed. The anxiety score was also high in this group (not significantly). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that patients with climacteric disturbances, especially premenopausal patients, often experience psychological discomfort, and that attention should be given not only to their depression but also to their anxiety.