[Reliability of the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS): Investigation in the German population]. / Reliabilität der Menopause-Rating-Skala (MRS) - Untersuchung für die deutsche Bevölkerung.

The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) is a well accepted instrument to measure the severity of menopausal symptoms. As yet, however, investigations had not specifically been directed towards short-term test-retest reliability of the scale. The MRS was twice applied in a random sample of 45-65 years aged women of the German Cohort Study of Women's Health with a distance between the measurements of 14 days. The response rate in the sample was 70 %. The correlation coefficient (Pearson) of the sum-score of the two measurements was r = 0.82. The high repeatability of the test results confirms our clinical experience and emphasizes excellent practical applicability. The MRS can be recommended for the clinical practice as a reliable scale both for the measurement and long-term surveillance of menopausal complaint dynamics.

[Frequency and reasons for switching/stopping use of oral contraceptives. Results of the German Cohort Study on Women Health]. / Gründe und Häufigkeit von Wechsel/Stopp der Einnahme oraler Kontrazeptiva. Ergebnisse der Deutschen Kohortenstudie zur Frauengesundheit.

Frequency and reasons for switching/stopping use of oral contraceptives. Results of the German Cohort Study on Women Health. Use of oral contraceptives is the safest and most commonly used method of contraception. The frequency of use underscores the importance of research on benefits, risks, and acceptability of long-term use. - An interim analysis of the German Cohort Study on Women's Health (aged 15-65 years) was performed to analyse frequency and reason of switching or stop of OC-use. We got for this analysis over 10 000 women with almost 100 000 years of observation from first to last (or current) OC use. - The prevalence of ever use of OCs was 85.5 % in our cohort. Switching or stop of OC use was observed in 93 % of the women. The frequency of switching increased with age and duration of use. Social parameter such as education, employment status, and living in the old or the new Federal States were not materially associated with the frequency of switching or stopping OC use. Satisfaction with general health, psychic stability, and sexual life was slightly associated with the frequency of switching: The better satisfaction the lower frequency of switching, but the sequence of cause and consequence is unclear. The most frequent categories of reasons for switching were observed side effects and personal reasons. Desire to get pregnant was the number one single reason, followed by headache/migraine, and bleeding problems. The frequency of more than 50 single reasons is listed. - The frequency and the knowledge of reason for switching or stopping OC use underlines the need for a good collaboration between physician and treated woman. However, also research on long-term compliance is required and the development of OCs with even less side effects.