Perceived stress, gastrointestinal factors linked to menopause symptoms

Key takeaways:

• Physical activity and stool consistency were associated with vasomotor symptoms.
• Defecation frequency independently contributed to psychosocial, sexual and physical health.

Perceived stress and certain gastrointestinal factors were linked to menopausal symptoms, with reproductive stages, physical activity, BMI and previously diagnosed depression or anxiety affecting symptom severity, researchers reported.

“It has been shown that the gut microbiota changes with age. There are also links between the gut microbiota and female sex hormones,” Ieva Brimiené, MD, from the department of neurobiology and biophysics in the Institute of Biosciences at the Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre in Lithuania, and colleagues wrote. “Not only that the gut microbiota plays an important role in the metabolism of female sex hormones but also sex hormones influence the gut microbiota.”

Brimiené and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional survey-based analysis, published in Menopause, with 693 women (mean age, 50.1 years). All participants responded to survey questions on demographics, gynecologic and gastrointestinal health and lifestyle factors and responded to the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL).

Researchers observed an increase in the MENQOL total score, meaning worse quality of life, depending on the stages of reproductive aging (P < .001). Scores also positively correlated with PSS scores (P < .001).

The following factors had significant associations with the total MENQOL score:

• age;
• reproductive stage;
• BMI;
• PSS;
• depression or anxiety diagnosis;
• physical activity; and
• defecation frequency.

When analyzing the separate questionnaire domains, researchers observed associations with higher scores in all domains, except sexual domains, between PSS score and depression or anxiety diagnosis (P < .05). In addition, physical activity and the values of the Bristol stool form scale were both related to the vasomotor items (P < .05); defecation frequency was an independent contributor to the psychosocial and sexual domains (P < .05); and BMI, physical activity and defecation frequency were associated with physical symptoms (P < .05) in the questionnaire.

“The results of our study revealed that stress and some gastrointestinal factors, including frequency of defecation and stool consistency, were associated with menopause symptoms,” the researchers wrote. “In addition, other factors such as physical activity, BMI and diagnosis of depression or anxiety disorder have been shown to be related to menopausal symptoms and their severity.”