Abstract

Studies show that insomnia in menopause may be associated with psychological symptoms, which would reflect its association with depression and high levels of tension and stress. To estimate the prevalence of insomnia and to assess its association with menopausal status in a population of women, a cross-sectional study was conducted among employees of a university in Rio de Janeiro, participating in a longitudinal study (the Pró-Saúde Study) (n=2189), using a self-administered questionnaire to evaluate insomnia, menopausal status and other variables. Non-pregnant women who reported absence of menstruation were considered “in menopause”. Insomnia was ranked as difficulty initiating sleep (DIS), difficulty maintaining sleep (DMS) and general insomnia complaints (GIC). Crude and adjusted ORs were calculated by multivariate logistic regression. Among women in menopause, prevalence of insomnia was 20.8% for difficulty initiating sleep, 21.8% for difficulty maintaining sleep, and 25.7% for general insomnia complaints. In the final model, adjusted by socio-economic and demographic variables, common mental disorder (CMD), stressful life event (SLE) and social support, all insomnia categories were associated with menopause. ORs were the following: for DIS OR=1.58 (95% CI 1.07 to 2.34); for DMS OR=1.61 (95% CI 1.08 to 2.41); and for GIC OR=1.68 (95% CI 1.15 to 2.43). These results are consistent with other studies, and show that menopause is significantly associated with the presence of insomnia, is independent of age, income, education, CMD, SLE and social support. The results of our study can help highlight the importance of managing/treating insomnia associated with menopause.