Electrodermal response to auditory stimuli in relation to menopausal transition period.

BACKGROUND: Menopause-associated estrogen deficiency results in climacteric symptoms like vasomotor, psychological and sleep disturbances that cause a decline in the quality of life. Electrodermal activity (EDA), a psychophysiological measure, reflects sympathetic activity, which provides information associated with individual's emotions, phobias, arousal, cognition and stress. The study compared electrodermal response to auditory stimuli between postmenopausal and perimenopausal women with and without symptoms and also correlated the association of scores of the menopausal transition symptoms with indices of EDA.

METHODS: Seventy-five women volunteers in the age group of 45-60 years, 25 in each group who were postmenopausal, perimenopausal with symptoms and perimenopausal without symptoms, were recruited. Indices of EDA such as latency, amplitude, rise time and half recovery time for auditory stimuli were quantified using standard techniques. Symptoms of menopausal transition were assessed using Women Health Questionnaire.

RESULTS: Analysis using one-way analysis of covariance after controlling for variables showed that mean skin conductance level of EDA was significantly higher among perimenopausal women with symptoms compared with perimenopausal women without symptoms and postmenopausal women. Perimenopausal women with symptoms had significantly lower latency of response when compared with other groups. Analysis using Pearson correlation test showed that latency of EDA had significant positive correlation and amplitude had significant negative correlation with menopausal transition symptom scores.

CONCLUSIONS: Perimenopausal women with symptoms exhibited increased sympathetic sudomotor activity when compared with perimenopausal women without symptoms and postmenopausal women as measured by EDA. Further, select measures of EDA exhibited significant association with the symptoms of menopausal transition.