Depressive symptoms' pattern in postmenopausal women

The study was conducted to elucidate the problem of depressive symptoms' pattern in climacteric women. The study included 128 postmenopausal women aged 47-65 years admitted to the Department of Gynecological Endocrinology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, because of climacteric symptoms. The authors assessed the intensity of climacteric symptoms with the Kupperman index and the severity of depressive symptoms with the Hamilton depression scale. They measured BMI of all studied women. The average score of the Hamilton scale in the studied group was 11 points (SD +/- 7 points). No depressive symptoms were found in 40 (31.2%) of the study participants. A slight increase in the severity of the depression symptoms was found in 64 (50%) and 23 (29.9%) displayed depressive symptoms at a moderate severity, while one (1.3%) study participant was diagnosed with very severe depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms observed most often were: somatic symptoms of anxiety and fear experienced in 90 (70.2%), light and interrupted sleep reported in 88 (68.6%), and general symptoms in 88 (68.6%) of the study participants.