Depression ‘may aggravate’ menopause symptoms, warranting treatment

Key takeaways:

• Survey data show depression is more closely tied to menopause symptoms than anxiety.
• Depressive symptoms associated with menopause included tiredness, loss of interest, concentration and motor problems..

Compared with anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms have a stronger association with both psychological and somatic menopause symptoms, according to study results published in Menopause.

“Despite the established association between menopausal symptoms and depression, research has predominantly focused on depression prevalence, with specific associations between depressive and menopause symptoms remaining underexplored,” Jie Wen, MEd, from the department of medical psychology at the School of Health Humanities at Peking University, Beijing, and colleagues wrote.

Wen and colleagues conducted a survey study with data from 423 menopausal women (mean age, 49.2 years) aged 40 to 60 years from a menopause clinic at a tertiary hospital in Beijing. All women completed an online questionnaire collecting self-reported data on demographic characteristics and menopause, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Researchers established a partial correlation and a Bayesian network to identify associations between menopause, anxiety and depressive symptoms.

For menopause symptoms, nervousness had a robust association with anxiety symptoms in both partial and Bayesian networks.

In the partial correlation network, depressive symptoms of tiredness and trouble sleeping, and anxiety symptoms of annoyance and nonstop worrying were all important for activating the simultaneous occurrence of menopause, anxiety and depressive symptoms.

In the Bayesian network, the depressive symptom of loss of interest was associated with some menopause symptoms through depressive symptoms of tiredness, concentration and motor problems. In addition, the menopause symptoms of arthralgia/myalgia, formication, sexual complaints and urinary tract infection were all independent of other menopause, anxiety and depressive symptoms.

“The findings of the Bayesian network analysis suggested that depression may aggravate menopausal symptoms, which is partly supported by prior findings exhibiting that cognitive behavioral therapy for depression may reduce menopausal symptoms,” the researchers wrote. “Given that the co-occurrence of depression and menopausal symptoms can be explained by biological factors, however, imperative for future research to investigate the role of biological and other neuropsychological factors in determining the impact of depression on menopausal symptoms.”

According to the researchers, psychological interventions aimed to reduce depressive symptoms, specifically loss of interest, may be important in menopause management, especially for women unsuitable for or hesitant to undergo hormone therapy.

“Notably, depressive symptoms, particularly a loss of interest in activities, were found to correlate with several menopausal symptoms,” the researchers wrote. “Therefore, it is imperative to prioritize the identification and management of depressive symptoms in women undergoing the menopause transition.”