Female endurance athlete survey data.

Menopause is associated with several negative health concerns and common menopausal symptoms. Physical activity is essential to mitigate these negative effects, but menopausal symptoms may interfere with participation in physical activity. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and the perceived negative effect of menopausal symptoms among female endurance athletes. Female runners, cyclists, swimmers, and triathletes 40–60 years of age were recruited (N = 187). Participants completed an online, anonymous survey that included self-reported menopausal status; the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS), a validated measure for assessing menopausal symptoms; and the perceived effect of menopausal symptoms on training and performance. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to examine differences in total MRS scores among participants reporting no, slight, moderate, and strong negative effects of symptoms on training and performance. The most commonly reported menopausal symptoms were sleep problems (88%), physical and mental exhaustion (83%), sexual problems (74%), anxiety (72%), irritability (68%), depressive mood (67%), weight gain (67%), hot flushes (65%), and joint and muscular discomfort (63%). The symptoms that were perceived to most negatively affect training and performance were joint and muscular discomfort, weight gain, sleep problems, and physical and mental exhaustion. Participants with a perceived strong negative effect of symptoms on training and performance demonstrated higher total MRS scores compared to participants reporting no negative effect or slight negative effect of symptoms on training and performance (p’s ≤ .001), suggesting women with more severe menopausal symptoms had a greater perceived negative effect of symptoms on training and performance. In summary, frequency of menopausal symptoms among female endurance athletes is high and severity of menopausal symptoms is similar to that reported in the general population. Despite high physical activity levels in this population, clinicians should address these symptoms to promote continued participation in physical activity.

绝经与多种不良健康问题及常见绝经症状密切相关。体育锻炼对缓解这些不良影响至关重要，但绝经症状可能会干扰女性参与体育锻炼。本研究旨在明确女子耐力运动员群体中绝经症状的发生频率，以及她们对绝经症状所带来负面影响的感知情况。研究招募了187名年龄在40至60岁之间的女子长跑运动员、自行车运动员、游泳运动员及铁人三项运动员。受试者完成了一项线上匿名调查问卷，内容涵盖自我报告的绝经状态、用于评估绝经症状的经效度验证工具——绝经评定量表（Menopausal Rating Scale, MRS），以及受试者对绝经症状对训练与运动表现影响的感知情况。本研究采用Kruskal-Wallis检验，分析了报告症状对训练表现无、轻度、中度及重度负面影响的受试者之间，绝经评定量表总得分的差异。报告率最高的绝经症状依次为睡眠问题（88%）、身心疲惫（83%）、性功能障碍（74%）、焦虑（72%）、易怒（68%）、抑郁情绪（67%）、体重增加（67%）、潮热（65%）以及关节与肌肉不适（63%）。被认为对训练与运动表现负面影响最大的症状依次为关节与肌肉不适、体重增加、睡眠问题以及身心疲惫。与报告症状对训练表现无负面影响或轻度负面影响的受试者相比，认为症状对训练表现存在重度负面影响的受试者，其绝经评定量表总得分更高（p值均≤0.001），这表明绝经症状越严重的女性，对症状给训练与运动表现带来负面影响的感知程度也越高。综上，女子耐力运动员群体的绝经症状发生率较高，且症状严重程度与普通人群的报道结果相近。尽管该群体的体育锻炼水平较高，但临床医师仍应关注此类症状，以助力女性持续参与体育锻炼。