Symptom reporting at the menopause

In menopause research there is an ongoing debate over the question of which symptoms are experienced by a woman during menopause. The confusion stems from a failure by researchers to deal with a series of methodological issues. First, multiple and highly diverse symptom lists have been used yielding very different results. Second, claims have been made regarding the presence or absence of psychological distress at menopause, but the measures of psychological morbidity used have been inadequate. Finally, scant attention has been paid to the probable bias which has arisen from the impact of cultural factors on symptom perception and reporting. Each of these points is discussed in relation to previous research and to the approach taken in a pilot study conducted in Manitoba, Canada.