ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2009 August;168(4):219-24

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Depression in menopause: comparison of factors

Roccasalva L. S., Ciotta L., Canfarelli G.,Napoli C., Rapisarda F., Valenti O.

Dipartimento Scienze Microbiologiche e Scienze Ginecologiche Università degli Studi di Catania, Catania, Italia

Aim. The climacteric symptoms are extremely varied and the major controversial clinical problem is about a correlation between depressive symptoms and hormonal changes during the menopausal period. In the present study the incidence of depressive symptoms among the women in menopause (spontaneous and surgical) and among preclimateric women have been estimated, and the correlation between the depressive symptoms and climacteric disorders have been analyzed. A control group, consisting of young fertile women, has also been created to observe the presence of important differences between the groups.
Methods. A total of 184 women were enrolled, including 100 in spontaneous menopause and 44 in surgical menopause, 16 in preclimacteric stage, and finally 24 young women of childbearing age who have formed the control group. All women in hormonal therapy were excluded from the study. The Zung test was used to evaluate the mood tone.
Results. The depressive symptoms were present in 71% of women in spontaneous menopause (group 1), in 73% of women in surgical menopause (group 2) in 62.5% of women in pre-climacteric (group 3) and 16 , 7% of women comprising the control (group 4).
Conclusion. Menopausal status is correlated with a higher incidence of depressive symptoms and this is only partly correlated with the estrogens deflection but mainly with climacteric symptoms, not forgetting the importance of independent factors.