Association of mindfulness and stress with menopausal symptoms in midlife women.

Author: Sood R1, Kuhle CL1, Kapoor E1,2, Thielen JM1, Frohmader KS3, Mara KC4, Faubion SS1
Affiliation:
1a Division of General Internal Medicine, Menopause & Women's Sexual Health Clinic , Mayo Clinic , Rochester , MN , USA.
2b Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition , Mayo Clinic , Rochester , MN , USA.
3c Minnesota BioBusiness Center , Rochester , MN , USA.
4d Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics , Mayo Clinic , Rochester , MN , USA.
Conference/Journal: Climacteric.
Date published: 2019 Jan 17
Other: Volume ID: 1-6 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1080/13697137.2018.1551344. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 212


PURPOSE: Midlife women frequently experience stress and menopausal symptoms. Mindfulness is thought to mitigate stress by avoiding emotional reactivity and ruminative thinking. We sought to assess the association of mindfulness and stress on menopausal symptoms among midlife women.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, women aged 40-65 years completed questionnaires, including the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), the Perceived Stress Scale-4 (PSS-4), and the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Linear regression was used to assess the impact of mindfulness and stress on menopausal symptoms with use of univariate and multivariable analyses, adjusting for patient characteristics.

RESULTS: In this cohort of 1744 midlife women, higher mindfulness (MAAS) and lower stress (PSS-4) scores correlated independently with lower menopausal symptom (MRS) scores. On multivariable analysis, a significant interaction effect was observed between the MAAS and PSS-4 on the MRS, such that with higher PSS-4 scores, the magnitude of association between the MAAS and lower MRS scores was larger.

CONCLUSION: Among midlife women, higher mindfulness and lower stress correlated with lower menopausal symptom scores independently. Among women experiencing more stress, the magnitude of association between mindfulness and lower menopausal symptom scores was greater, largely driven by psychological subdomain scores. Mindfulness may mitigate menopausal symptoms among midlife women.

KEYWORDS: Menopause; menopause symptoms; midlife women; mindfulness; stress

PMID: 30652511 DOI: 10.1080/13697137.2018.1551344

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