Assessment of insomnia and related risk factors in postmenopausal women screened for the metabolic syndrome

Background: Sleep disturbances are common during female mid-life. Nevertheless, there is limited available information linking sleep characteristics to the menopause and the metabolic syndrome (METS). Objective: To assess insomnia prevalence and related risk factors in postmenopausal women screened for the METS. Methods: In this cross sectional study 204 natural postmenopausal women participating in a METS screening program filled out the Athens insomnia scale (AIS), the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and a general socio-demographic questionnaire. Criteria of the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP-III) were used to define the METS. Results: Median age of the whole sample was 56 years. A 50.5% of women had the METS, 57.4% hot flushes, 58.3% were abdominally obese, 51.5% hypertension, 25.0% hyperglycemia, 15.7% depressed mood and 29.9% anxiety. A 33.8% presented insomnia according to the AIS (scores 6 or more). The AIS displayed a high internal consistency as computed Cronbach's alpha was determined to be 0.86. Multiple linear regression analysis determined that male premature ejaculation, female psychotropic drug use, hot flush intensity, mood morbidity (higher total HADS scores) and higher parity positively and significantly correlated to higher AIS scores (more insomnia). Conclusion: In this postmenopausal sample insomnia was not related to the METS or its components yet to other psycho-somatic female and partner issues.