Associations between anxiety, depression and insomnia in peri- and post-menopausal women

Maturitas. 2012 May;72(1):61-5. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2012.01.014. Epub 2012 Feb 11.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the correlation between somatic and psychological symptoms and insomnia and the contribution of depression and anxiety to insomnia in a sample of peri- and post-menopausal women in a clinical setting.

Study design: The responses of 237 peri- and post-menopausal women enrolled in the Systematic Health and Nutrition Education Program (SHNEP) at the Menopause Clinic of the Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital between November 2007 and December 2010 to the Menopausal Health-Related Quality of Life (MHR-QOL) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaires were subjected to Spearman's rank correlation and logistic regression analyses.

Results: The analysis revealed that (1) insomnia is highly prevalent, (2) the symptoms of difficulty in initiating sleep (DIS) and experiencing non-restorative sleep (NRS) are more strongly correlated with psychological than somatic symptoms, and (3) DIS is strongly associated with anxiety while NRS is strongly associated with depression in the population studied.

Conclusions: Insomnia is highly prevalent among peri- and post-menopausal female patients in a clinical setting and more closely associated with psychological than somatic symptoms. DIS is strongly correlated with anxiety while NRS is strongly correlated with depression.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anxiety / complications*
  • Depression / complications*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Japan / epidemiology
  • Middle Aged
  • Perimenopause / psychology*
  • Postmenopause / psychology*
  • Prevalence
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / epidemiology
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / etiology*
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / psychology
  • Sleep*