Depression risk nearly doubles when women enter menopause.(Gynecology)

Women entering menopause are nearly twice as likely to develop depression as are women the same age who are not yet making the transition to menopause, reported Dr. Lee S. Cohen and his associates in the Harvard Study of Moods and Cycles.

"Transition to menopause has long been considered a period of increased risk for depressive symptoms," Dr. Cohen and his colleagues wrote, but studies on the issue have yielded conflicting results. This is partly because of methodological inconsistencies, including a tendency to define menopause based on questionable criteria such as the subjects' age alone, and the lack of standardized assessment of psychiatric symptoms, the researchers said.

In contrast, their study involved a population-based, cross-sectional sample of women aged 36 to 45 years who were prospectively followed every 6 months for several years.

Changes in menstrual cycle length and menstrual flow amount and duration were carefully tracked, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, as well as the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Significant adverse life experiences and vasomotor symptoms also were assessed, said Dr. Cohen and his associates at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Women's Hospital, all in Boston.

The 460 study subjects had no history of major depression. A total of 134 were still premenopausal at the end of the last follow-up ...