How pronounced are my menopausal symptoms?

The Menopause Rating Scale is the questionnaire commonly used in Europe – eleven questions, applied in thousands of studies. The score separates somatic, psychological and urogenital symptoms, because that determines what helps. It does not replace a consultation, but it gives one numbers.

For each complaint, choose how strongly you have felt it in the past four weeks.

1. Hot flushes, sweating

Episodes of sweating, flushing

2. Heart discomfort

Unusual awareness of heart beat, heart skipping, racing, tightness

3. Sleep problems

Difficulty falling asleep, sleeping through, waking up early

4. Depressive mood

Feeling down, sad, tearful, lacking drive, mood swings

5. Irritability

Feeling nervous, inner tension, feeling aggressive

6. Anxiety

Inner restlessness, feeling panicky

7. Physical and mental exhaustion

General decrease in performance, impaired memory, poor concentration

8. Sexual problems

Change in sexual desire, activity and satisfaction

9. Bladder problems

Difficulty passing urine, increased need, incontinence

10. Dryness of the vagina

Sensation of dryness or burning, difficulty with intercourse

11. Joint and muscular discomfort

Pain in the joints, rheumatoid complaints

Why the three domains matter more than the total

Hot flushes and disrupted sleep respond reliably to hormone therapy, usually within weeks. Vaginal dryness responds very well to a local treatment that barely enters the bloodstream – which is why it remains possible even when systemic hormones are not. Low mood may belong to the menopause, or be a depression, or a thyroid disorder. One combined score hides exactly these differences.

About the questionnaire

The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS II) was developed in Germany in the 1990s, has been validated in more than 25 languages and is the instrument commonly used in Europe when menopausal symptoms are to be measured rather than estimated. Its strength is not the diagnosis – it is the comparison: the same eleven questions six months later show whether something has changed.

What is not in the questionnaire

Bone loss. In the first years after the last period, up to two per cent of bone mass is lost annually – without any symptom at all. Osteoporosis does nothing until the first bone breaks. Anyone reaching menopause early, who is slight, smokes, takes cortisone or has a family history should have bone density measured, regardless of what this score says.

Sources

  1. Heinemann K u. a.: The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) scale: a methodological review. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 2 (2004) 45
  2. Schneider HPG, Heinemann LAJ, Thiele K: The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS): cultural and linguistic translation into English. Life and Medical Sciences Online 3 (2002)
What this tool cannot do

It works with averages. Your body does not. The result is a starting point for a conversation, not a finding – and it cannot see what an examination would show.

Questions about your result? Arrange an appointment.