A review of menopause nomenclature
Menopause nomenclature varies in the scholarly literature making synthesis and interpretation of research findings difficult. Therefore, the present study aimed to review and discuss critical developments in menopause nomenclature; determine the level of heterogeneity amongst menopause definitions a...
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| Published in: | Reproductive health Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 29 - 15 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
London
BioMed Central
31.01.2022
BioMed Central Ltd Springer Nature B.V BMC |
| Subjects: | |
| ISSN: | 1742-4755, 1742-4755 |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Menopause nomenclature varies in the scholarly literature making synthesis and interpretation of research findings difficult. Therefore, the present study aimed to review and discuss critical developments in menopause nomenclature; determine the level of heterogeneity amongst menopause definitions and compare them with the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop criteria. Definitions/criteria used to characterise premenopausal and postmenopausal status were extracted from 210 studies and 128 of these studies were included in the final analyses. The main findings were that 39.84% of included studies were consistent with STRAW classification of
premenopause
, whereas 70.31% were consistent with STRAW classification of
postmenopause
. Surprisingly, major inconsistencies relating to premenopause definition were due to a total lack of reporting of any definitions/criteria for premenopause (39.84% of studies). In contrast, only 20.31% did not report definitions/criteria for postmenopause. The present findings indicate that there is a significant amount of heterogeneity associated with the definition of
premenopause
, compared with
postmenopause
. We propose three key suggestions/recommendations, which can be distilled from these findings. Firstly, premenopause should be transparently operationalised and reported. Secondly, as a minimum requirement, regular menstruation should be defined as the number of menstrual cycles in a period of at least 3 months. Finally, the utility of introducing normative age-ranges as supplementary criterion for defining stages of reproductive ageing should be considered. The use of consistent terminology in research will enhance our capacity to compare results from different studies and more effectively investigate issues related to women’s health and ageing.
Plain Language Summary
The meaning of
menopause
is widely understood, but often imprecisely defined in research. The present findings revealed that there is a significant amount of heterogeneity associated with the definition of
premenopause
, compared with
postmenopause
. Three key suggestions/recommendations can be distilled from these findings. Firstly, premenopause should be transparently operationalised and reported. Secondly, as a minimum requirement, regular menstruation should be defined as the number of menstrual cycles in a period of at least 3 months. Finally, the utility of introducing normative age-ranges as supplementary criterion for defining stages of reproductive ageing should be considered. The use of consistent terminology in research will enhance our capacity to compare results from different studies and more effectively investigate issues related to women’s health and ageing. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 ObjectType-Review-3 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 1742-4755 1742-4755 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12978-022-01336-7 |