Association of Vasomotor and Other Menopausal Symptoms with Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Open accessAbstract
IMPORTANCE: Vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats) and other symptoms, including depression, anxiety and panic attacks, are commonly experienced by menopausal women and have been associated with an unfavourable cardiovascular risk profile. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether presence of menopausal symptoms is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS: Five electronic databases (Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science) were search until February 17th, 2015 to identify relevant studies. Observational cohort studies or randomised intervention studies were eligible for inclusion if they followed participants prospectively (at least 1 year of follow-up), and reported relevant estimates on the association of any vasomotor symptoms, or other menopausal symptoms, with risk of CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), or stroke in perimenopausal, menopausal, or postmenopausal women. Data were extracted by two independent reviewers using a pre-designed data collection form. Separate pooled relative risks (RRs) for age and non-established cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., education, ethnicity) adjusted data and for established cardiovascular risk factors and potential mediators-adjusted data (e.g., smoking, body mass index, and hypertension) were calculated. RESULTS: Out of 9,987 initially identified references, ten studies were selected, including 213,976 women with a total of 10,037 cardiovascular disease outcomes. The age and non-established cardiovascular risk factors adjusted RRs) [95% confidence intervals] for development of CHD, Stroke and CVD comparing women with and without any menopausal symptoms were 1.34 [1.13-1.58], 1.30 [0.99-1.70], 1.48 [1.21-1.80] respectively, and the corresponding RRs adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors and potential mediators were 1.18 [1.03-1.35], 1.08 [0.89-1.32], 1.29 [0.98-1.71]. However, these analyses were limited by potential unmeasured confounding and the small number of studies on this topic. CONCLUSION: Presence of vasomotor symptoms and other menopausal symptoms are generally associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which is mainly explained by cardiovascular risk factors.
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No association is seen between menopausal symptoms and risk of stroke compared with women without menopausal symptoms.
“No association was seen between menopausal symptoms and risk of composite cardiovascular disease or stroke compared with women without menopausal symptoms97 but the risk was increased for ischaemic heart disease.”
From Association between the reproductive health of young women and cardiovascular disease in later life: umbrella review (2020) · cites this paper as [97]
The risk of ischaemic heart disease is increased in women with menopausal symptoms.
“No association was seen between menopausal symptoms and risk of composite cardiovascular disease or stroke compared with women without menopausal symptoms97 but the risk was increased for ischaemic heart disease.”
From Association between the reproductive health of young women and cardiovascular disease in later life: umbrella review (2020) · cites this paper as [97]
No association is seen between menopausal symptoms and risk of composite cardiovascular disease compared with women without menopausal symptoms.
“No association was seen between menopausal symptoms and risk of composite cardiovascular disease or stroke compared with women without menopausal symptoms97 but the risk was increased for ischaemic heart disease.”
From Association between the reproductive health of young women and cardiovascular disease in later life: umbrella review (2020) · cites this paper as [97]
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References 50 · Cited by 155
Research works printed but not linked: 3
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- Authors
- Muka, T., Oliver-Williams, C., Colpani, V., Kunutsor, S., Chowdhury, S., Chowdhury, R., Kavousi, M., & Franco, O. H.
- Affiliations
- Erasmus MC (NL)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Muka, Taulant
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2016-06-17
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- e0157417
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4912069
- OpenAlex
- W2437806855
- Cited by
- 155
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 1.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Explore Bristol Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePub (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Apollo (cc-by)
- Funders
- Metagenics. Inc
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Estrogen and related hormone effects
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
- Keywords
- menopausal symptoms, vasomotor symptoms, hot flashes, night sweats, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, stroke, postmenopausal women, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, cardiovascular risk factors
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Cardiovascular Diseases, Female, Humans, Hypertension, Menopause, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Sweating, Vasomotor System, Hot Flashes, Stroke
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