Vasomotor symptoms as assessed with 10 item Cervantes Scale and their correlation with cardiovascular risk Danny Salazar-Pousada1, Ingrid Morales-Luna1, Faustino Pérez-López2 and Peter Chedraui1,3 Institute of Biomedicine, Research Area for Women’s Health, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador; 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Zaragoza, Hospital Clínico Dr. Lozano Blesa, Zaragoza, Spain; 3 Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Católica “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción”, Asunción, Paraguay 1
Figure 1. Distribution according to the menopausal stage
Background: The menopause is a physiological condition that all women encounter and has an impact on bio-psycho and social aspects. Vasomotor symptoms have been related to increased cardiovascular risk during female midlife and beyond.
Pre menopause 29% Postmenopause 52% Peri menopause 19%
Objective: To determine the correlation between vasomotor symptoms and cardiovascular risk in a sample of mid-aged Ecuadorian women. Method: This was a cross-sectional study in which 202 women aged 40 to 69 were surveyed and screened for the presence of vasomotor symptoms using item #1 of the 10 item Cervantes Scale (CS-10). Women in reproductive stage were discharged (n=41) and in addition, the 10 year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular event was determined for each of the remaining subjects using the calculator of the American College of Cardiology / American Heart Association (ACC/AHA).
Results: Median age of the cohort was 50 years, with 52% being postmenopausal, 42.6% having hypertension, 50% abdominal obesity and 16.9% a high fasting glucose (100 mg/dl). A 54% of women presented vasomotor symptoms of which 13.9% were graded as severe to very severe. For the whole sample calculated risk of cardiovascular event was 2.2 ± 3.3%. Risk was significantly higher among postmenopausal women as compared to pre and peri menopausal ones (3.0 ± 3.4% vs. 1.4 ± 4.3% and 1.2 ± 1.0%, respectively, p< 0.05). A higher risk was observed among older women with hypertension and abdominal obesity.
Table 1. The cardiovascular risk and Cervantes Score according to menopausal stage Figure 2. Cardiovascular risk according to Cervantes scale scores
CVR in women with menopausal symptoms (Cervantes score ≥1) n= 161
Premenopausal n= 47 mean= 47.9
Perimenopausal n= 30 mean= 52
Postmeno pausal n= 84 mean= 54.9
2,8
3
FRAMINGHAM 2,5
2,1
2
1,6
ACC
1,2
1,5
Framingham score n=155 (96.3%) ACC/AHA score n=161 (100%) Mean Cervantes Score
0.7 1.2
1 3.1
1.5 3
1
1,6
0,9
0,8
0,9
0,5
0
10.1
10
11.1
0
1 to 10
11 to 20
>20
Conclusion: In this mid-aged female sample cardiovascular risk increased with age, postmenopausal status and features of the metabolic syndrome but not with the presence of vasomotor symptoms.
PROYECTO SINDE: SIU-318-853-2014 (The Omega II, Women’s Health Project 2014).
