Increased Cortisol Level: A Possible Link Between Climacteric Symptoms and Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Data are presented as mean ± SD.
STAI, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure.

Conversion to SI units: 0.02586 for cholesterol, 0.05551 for glucose, 7.175 for insulin, 2.759 for 24-hour cortisol.
HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; HOMA-IR, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance.

Table 3.  Univariate regression between 24-hour urinary cortisol level (dependent variable) and body measures or scores (independent variable) for vasomotor symptoms derived by the Greene Climacteric Scale subscale for vasomotor symptoms, for psychological symptoms derived by the Greene Climacteric Scale specific subscales, for the association of vasomotor and psychological symptoms derived by the total Greene Climacteric Scale, for anxiety derived by the STAI, and for depression derived by the Zung scale

	r	CR (95% CI)	P
Waist, cm	0.237	1.43 (0.19 to 2.66)	0.003
Weight, kg	0.293	1.78 (0.59 to 2.97)	0.007
BMI, kg/m2	0.315	5.18 (1.87 to 8.49)	0.004
Greene Climacteric Scale–vasomotor	0.283	7.75 (1.87 to 13.6)	0.010
Greene Climacteric Scale–anxiety	0.273	4.26 (1.09 to 7.43)	0.012
Greene Climacteric Scale–depression	0.270	4.65 (1.13 to 8.17)	0.014
Greene Climacteric Scale–somatic	0.220	3.29 (0.19 to 6.38)	0.046
Greene Climacteric Scale–sexuality	0.215	10.9 (−0.04 to 22.2)	0.058
Greene Climacteric Scale–total	0.342	1.57 (0.63 to 2.50)	0.002
STAI (anxiety)	0.230	1.54 (0.14 to 2.94)	0.030
Zung scale (depression)	0.260	1.60 (0.36 to 2.85)	0.016

STAI, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; BMI, body mass index.

Authors and Disclosures

Angelo Cagnacci, MD, PhD, Marianna Cannoletta, MD, Simona Caretto, MD, Renata Zanin, MD, Anjeza Xholli, MD, and Annibale Volpe, MD

Department Obstetrics Gynecology and Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria of Modena, Modena, Italy.

Address correspondence to
Angelo Cagnacci, MD, PhD, Dipartimento Integrato Materno-Infantile, Ginecologia e Ostetrica, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Modena, via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy. E-mail: cagnacci@unimore.it