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EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY COMPOSITION AND MENOPAUSE SYMPTOMS ACROSS THE MENOPAUSE TRANSITION

SR Moore

Abstract

Sam R. Moore. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

BACKGROUND: Up to 85% of women experience physical and psychological menopausal symptoms, which can last on average for over 7 years during the menopause transition (MT). The MT is also associated with unfavorable body composition changes of increased adipose tissue and decreased fat-free mass (FFM; lean mass and bone mineral content). The purpose of this study was to characterize the contribution of changes in body composition (percent body fat [%BF] and fat-free mass index [FFMI]) to total number of menopausal symptoms (TMS) across pre- (PRE), peri- (PERI), and post-menopausal (POST) groups. METHODS: Seventy-two healthy females were categorized by menopause status: PRE (n=24, Age=39.8±3.3yrs; %BF=31.8±7.6%) eumenorrheic; PERI (n=24, Age=50.0±3.4 yrs; %BF=39.0±7.1%) irregular periods or amenorrheic for <12 months and ≥38 years old; and POST (n=24, Age=54.7±3.5 yrs; %BF=38.0±6.9%) amenorrheic for ≥12 months. The North American Menopause Society Validated Questionnaire was used to determine TMS. A whole-body dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan was used to evaluate %BF and FFM. FFMI was calculated from DXA-derived FFM (kg) relative to height (m2). Bivariate correlations were used to analyze strength of relationships between body composition and TMS. Stepwise linear regressions were then applied to evaluate the independent effects of %BF and FFMI on TMS. RESULTS: %BF demonstrated a significant positive correlation with TMS (r=0.464; p<0.001), while FFMI did not (r=-0.021; p=0.862) for the entire sample. %BF was a significant predictor for TMS across the entire sample (R2=0.215; p<0.001), however when stratified by group, %BF was significant for the PERI group only (R2=0.442; p<0.001), explaining 44% of the variation in TMS. FFMI was not a significant predictor for TMS. CONCLUSION: %BF predicted nearly half of the variance in TMS in PERI women, demonstrating a sizeable impact of body fat accumulation across the MT. The need and potential for targeted exercise and nutrition interventions to alleviate changes in body fat may also reduce menopausal-related symptoms for women in peri-menopause. Funding information: This study was supported by the UNC Center for Women’s Health Research.

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