Influence of Menopausal Status on the Symptom Experience of Women Before Breast Cancer Surgery.
Melissa Mazor, Janine K Cataldo, Kathryn Lee and 8 others
PMID 28945634WHAT IT FOUND
Before breast cancer surgery, women had many symptoms regardless of menopausal status.
Severity and distress did not differ; postmenopausal women more often had trouble sleeping and vaginal dryness, premenopausal women more often had urinary frequency.
Key findings
01Before surgery, premenopausal and postmenopausal women reported a similar total number of symptoms (mean 13.3 and 12.0 symptoms).
02After adjustment, premenopausal women had higher urinary frequency occurrence, while postmenopausal women had higher difficulty falling asleep and vaginal dryness occurrence.
03For symptoms occurring in at least 10% of women, severity and distress did not differ between groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Menopausal status was self-reported with a single yes/no question. The Menopausal Symptoms Scale did not ask women to report only symptoms they attributed to menopause, so symptoms could reflect cancer diagnosis, pending surgery, or comorbidity. Some women refused enrollment because they felt overwhelmed, which may underestimate symptom burden. The sample was mostly Caucasian and well educated, limiting generalizability. The analysis focused on the preoperative period, so it does not show how symptoms change after surgery or treatment.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. No author conflict-of-interest declaration is included in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that menopausal status determines how severe or distressing symptoms will be. The study found no difference in symptom severity or distress between premenopausal and postmenopausal women, even though some symptom occurrence rates differed after adjustment.