Hot Flashes: Is the Road Even Longer Than We Thought?

Hot flashes, the most common menopausal complaint, have been reported to last from 6 months to >5 years (JW Womens Health Jun 18 2009). To understand better the course of this bothersome symptom, researchers conducted a prospective population-based cohort study (the Penn Ovarian Aging Study) in which 259 women (age range at enrollment, 35–47; equal numbers of black and white women; not using hormone therapy) were followed for 13 years as they progressed through menopause (delineated by the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop as 1: premenopause; 2: late premenopause; 3: early transition; 4: late transition; 5: postmenopause).

Median duration of moderate-to-severe hot flashes was 10.2 years. Women who reported such hot flashes as they entered the menopausal transition were more likely to experience longer median duration (11.2 years) than were women with onset during late transition or postmenopause (3.8 years). Adjusted analysis showed that hot flashes persisted longer in black women than in white women (P=0.02) and — inconsistent with other reports (JW Womens Health Feb 21 2008) — lasted longer in nonobese women than in obese women (P=0.003). Duration of symptoms was similar in smokers and nonsmokers.