• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify menopausal symptoms and quality of life (QOL) according to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in rural menopausal women. Methods: Menopausal symptoms and QOL were measured by questionnaires. A total of 50 participants in HRT group had received hormone replacement therapy for 12 weeks and another 50 who had not received hormone therapy were assigned to non-HRT group. Results: Vasomotor symptom score of non-HRT group was significantly higher than that of HRT group (p=.013). There were no statistically significant differences between two groups in all menopausal symptoms except for vasomotor symptom. There were no significant differences between two groups in the total scores and sub-scores of QOL. Total scores and sub-scores of QOL were very low in both group. Menopausal symptoms were significantly negatively correlated with QOL. Conclusion: These results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between HRT group and non-HRT group in menopausal symptoms except for vasomotor symptom and QOL. Menopausal symptoms were moderate and QOL was very low in menopausal women. It is necessary to develop nursing interventions to improve menopausal symptoms and QOL in menopausal women.

• Archives of Obesity and Metabolism
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.54-63
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• 2023

Estrogen is crucial in regulating food intake, energy expenditure, glucose metabolism, and lipid metabolism. During menopause, the decline in estrogen levels predisposes women to weight gain, abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) prevents weight gain, improves lipid metabolism by lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol while raising high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and delays the onset of type 2 diabetes in menopausal women. The effect of MHT on CVD in menopausal women remains controversial. The Women's Health Initiative study was terminated prematurely after it revealed that hormone administration increased the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and thromboembolism. However, some studies have found that MHT had no effect or decreased the risk of CVD. The inconsistent results were likely due to multiple factors, including the timing of hormone therapy initiation, duration of therapy, type and dosage, and presence or absence of CVD risk factors at the start of treatment. Despite its benefits in terms of managing weight gain and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and CVD associated with obesity, it is not recommended as the primary therapy for weight loss or diabetes prevention. MHT is primarily indicated for postmenopausal women, who are likely to benefit from its potential to prevent weight gain and improve lipid metabolism.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.199-206
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• 2017

As the population ages, the life of women after menopause becomes much longer than the past, and the quality of life of old age becomes increasingly principal issue. There is a period that women experience the physical symptoms of menopause, although there are differences in degree, and the management of this period is a suitable time for women to improve their quality of life. According to the menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and Timing Hypothesis, which has been proven in the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) and the Early vs Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ELITE) study, a relatively young woman before and after menopause can benefit from long-term beneficial effects such as prevention of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease by early initiation of hormone therapy to alleviate menopausal symptoms. MHT should be considered for all women in healthy (without other important diseases) menopausal years, expecting to improve their quality of life through symptom relief in menopausal women and, in the long term, to prevent cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. When applying hormone therapy to individuals, it is necessary to establish various treatment strategies according to the menopausal symptoms of individual patients (individualization of treatment) and judge the suitability of clinical application.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.120-129
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the degree of menopause symptoms and associated factors in patients with breast cancer who were receiving hormone therapy. Methods: Data were collected with questionnaires from 150 patients with breast cancer who had been on hormone therapy at a hospital in Seoul. Data were analyzed with the t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient to compare the degree of menopause symptoms by demographic, clinical and psychological factors. Results: The mean menopause symptoms score was $13.39{\pm}7.97$. Most participants reported having hot flushes and sweating (75.3%), physical and mental exhaustion (82.7%) and sexual problems (64.7%). Menopause symptoms and depression were correlated with each other (p<.01). Somato-vegetative symptoms were different significantly by age, menopausal status at time of operation, occupation and tumor. Psychological symptoms were different significantly by marital status, operation type and chemotherapy. Urogenital symptoms were different significantly by prior history of cancer, occupation, operation type and radiation therapy. Conclusion: These findings can be used to provide tailored nursing interventions by identifying high risk groups for menopausal symptom among breast cancer patients receiving hormone therapy.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.336-345
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to identify factors influencing quality of life in post-menopausal women. Methods: The participants were 194 post-menopausal women who visited a women's clinic in Changwon, Korea from July 1 to August 31, 2018, and completed questionnaires containing items on menopausal symptoms, marital intimacy, current menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), and quality of life. Collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression using SPSS for Windows version 23.0. Results: Quality of life had a significant negative correlation with menopausal symptoms (r=-.40, p<.001), and a significant positive correlation with marital intimacy (r=.54, p<.001). The factors influencing the quality of life of post-menopausal women were current MHT (t=6.32, p<.001), marital intimacy (t=4.94, p<.001), monthly family income (t=4.78, p<.001), menopausal symptoms (t=-4.37, p<.001), and education level (t=3.66, p<.001). These variables had an explanatory power of 59.2% for quality of life in post-menopausal women. Conclusion: In order to improve the quality of life of post-menopausal women, nursing interventions are needed to help menopausal women choose appropriate MHT, alleviate menopausal symptoms, and increase marital intimacy. Interventions should also be prioritized for women of a low educational level and with a low income in consideration of their health problems.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.369-378
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• 2003

Purpose: To identify factors influencing women's intention to take hormone replacement therapy(HRT). Method: A cross-sectional survey design was utilized. A total of 116 married women aged 40 to 60 were recruited from women's groups in communities. They completed a structured questionnaire containing demographic characteristics, Orientation to Life Questionnaire, Menopausal Symptom Checklist, Health Belief of Korean Adult, Sexrole Idea of Kim, Dong-il, chronic illnesses, and a single item measuring marital satisfaction. Result: Thirteen percents of the women were currently taking HRT and 28.4% had intention to take HRT. Education, sense of coherence, and sex role attitude were related to women's susceptibility to menopause. Hysterectomy status and the level of sense of coherence explained women's perception of seriousness regarding menopause. In addition, chronic health conditions accounted for the variances of benefits and barriers to HRT. Factors influencing women's intention to take HRT were education, menopausal symptoms, and perceived benefits of HRT. Conclusion: Women's chronic health conditions, psychosocial characteristics as well as menopausal discomforts were associated with women's choice regarding HRT. Other factors related to decision making process of women's health seeking behaviors need to be explored.

• Journal of Menopausal Medicine
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.139-142
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• 2018

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.173-180
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• 2005

Purpose:We investigated the effect of menopausal duration on cognitive function using adjunctive hormone replacement therapy(HRT) in postmenopausal women with depression. Method:Twelve postmenopausal women with depressive disorder were enrolled. Six patients having menopausal duration of less than 3 years was assigned to the short duration group and six patients of more than 3 years to the long duration group. Each patient was treated with conjugated equine estrogen(1.25mg) plus medroxyprogesterone(5mg) for 8 weeks. Cognitive performance was measured by the Verbal Memory Test, Visual Memory Test, Trail Making Test, Digit Symbol Test, and Attention Shift Test. The Beck Depression Inventory was used for evaluation of depressed mood. The reproductive hormone levels were also measured. Results:The long duration group showed the lower performance only in Trail Making Test B compared with the short duration group at baseline. After 8 weeks, the long duration group performed significantly better in the Trail Making Test B compared with the short duration group. The differences in change of depressive mood and gonadal hormone level between two groups were not significant. Conclusion:Menopausal duration before HRT may influence the effect of estrogen on cognition in some cognitive domains. This might be related with estrogen receptor hypersensitivity which induced by the longer estrogen deficiency.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.184-193
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• 2023

Purpose: The present study was designed to compare the incidence of periodontitis according to menopausal status and to investigate the possible effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on periodontitis in postmenopausal women using a common data model (CDM) at a single institution. Methods: This study involved retrospective cohort data of 950,751 patients from a 20-year database (2001 to 2020) of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital converted to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership CDM. One-way analysis of variance models and the χ² test were used to analyze the statistical differences in patient characteristics among groups. A time-dependent Cox regression analysis was used to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals, and P values less than 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: Of the 29,729 patients, 1,307 patients were diagnosed with periodontitis and 28,422 patients were not. Periodontitis was significantly more common among postmenopausal patients regardless of HRT status than among the non-menopausal group (P<0.05). Time-dependent Cox regression analysis showed that the postmenopausal patients had a significantly higher chance of having periodontitis than non-menopausal patients (P<0.05), but after adjustment for age, body mass index, and smoking status, the difference between the non-menopausal and post-menopausal HRT-treated groups was insignificant (P=0.140). Conclusions: Postmenopausal women had a significantly greater risk of periodontitis than non-menopausal women. Additionally, the use of HRT in postmenopausal women could reduce the incidence of periodontitis.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.566-572
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to determine if the isoflavones from Sophorae fructus (SISO) have potential clinical benefit in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the treat ment of menopausal signs, such as the levels of total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). An additional aim was to present the potential antioxidant effect of SISO in a microglial cell line. For the animal model, the ovaries were removed from adult rats and the indicators of menopause were measured at the pre- and post-administration time points. Although no statistically significant correlation was found, SISO tended to decrease the TC level (p=0.15) and the FSH level (p=0.36), but to increase the HDL level (p=0.303).SISO (< 5${\mu}g$/mL) also exerted antioxidant activity on BV-2 microglial cells by inhibiting lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide. This cytoprotective effect was confirmed by trypan blue staining, which was used to test for cellular damage from H$_2O_2$. In conclusion, this study highlights the anti-menopausal and antioxidant effect of SISO in an ovariectomized rat model, as well as in microglial cells, and provides new clinical targets for the screening of phytoestrogens as potential candidates for HRT in menopausal women.