Attitudes towards menopause and symptom severity in a large sample of Dutch perimenopausal women

The experience of menopause can vary widely and can cause significant suffering and impairment. A better understanding of what contributes to the experience of menopause might help to prevent or alleviate potential burden. Previous studies have pointed to psychological effects of negative attitudes towards menopause on symptoms severity. Due to cultural variability in attitudes towards menopause, it is important to extend and replicate this research to other cultural contexts. This study investigates attitudes towards menopause held by a cohort of Dutch perimenopausal women, and associations between these attitudes and reported menopausal symptoms. The sample included 2390 Dutch perimenopausal women with an age range of 35–64 years (mean 49.92, SD 4.85) from the Lifelines Cohort Study. To measure attitudes towards menopause, we created a questionnaire informed by contemporary cultural context. Menopausal complaints were measured with the Greene Climacteric Scale. Associations between complaints and attitudes were assessed with linear regression analyses. Perimenopausal women’s attitudes towards menopause ranged from very positive to very negative. Overall, they were most negative about complaints during the perimenopause, and less negative towards long-term effects of the transition on their sex lives, physical attractiveness, energy, and vitality. Many attitudes showed an association with menopausal symptoms, especially negative attitudes regarding physical changes, which were associated with more menopausal complaints in all domains. In general, associations were weaker for vasomotor complaints than for psychological and somatic complaints. That the sample had more negative attitudes towards transitory perimenopausal complaints than towards long-term effects of menopause suggests that women tend to see menopause as a temporary difficult phase rather than a life-changing event. Associations between attitudes and symptoms were weaker for vasomotor symptoms than for more general psychological and somatic complaints.