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Introducción: la mayoría de los estudios sobre la sintomatología de la menopausia se han realizado entre mujeres caucásicas de la cultura occidental, lo que lleva a la inquietud de si sus hallazgos son aplicables a mujeres de otros grupos étnicos/raciales. Hay un creciente interés en estudiar el papel de la etnia/raza en los síntomas de la menopausia. Objetivo: revisar la literatura, identificando estudios que comparen los síntomas menopáusicos en diferentes etnias/razas. Materiales y métodos: se realizó una búsqueda electrónica en PubMed, Cochrane y SciELO con las palabras clave "menopause", "ethnicity" y "race". Se incluyeron estudios que compararan la presentación de síntomas climatéricos en diferentes etnias. Debido a la dificultad para la comparación de los resultados, no se incluyeron estudios realizados en una sola población étnica. Resultados: se identificaron 55 estudios, de los cuales 19 cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión. La prevalencia de los síntomas menopáusicos difirió entre los grupos étnicos y se observaron contrastes en la percepción y la experiencia de la menopausia entre las culturas. Conclusión: los resultados de estos estudios no apoyan un único síndrome menopáusico. El entendimiento de las diferencias entre los grupos étnicos puede mejorar la calidad de la atención en salud que se le brinda a la mujer y promover estilos de vida que contribuyan a disminuir su incidencia y severidad y mejorar la calidad de vida de la mujer.Introduction: most studies about the symptomatology of menopause have been done on Caucasian females living in western culture, leading to worry about whether their findings are really applicable to females from other ethnic/ racial groups. There is growing interest in studying the role of ethnic groups/race in the symptoms of menopause. Objective: reviewing the literature identifying studies comparing menopausal symptoms in different ethnic groups/races. Materials and methods: PubMed, Cochrane and SciELO databases were searched using the key words "menopause", "ethnicity", "race". Studies were included which compared the presentation of climacteric symptoms in different ethnic groups; studies carried out on a single ethnic population were not included due to the subsequent difficulty in comparing results. Results: 55 studies were identified, of which 19 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of menopausal symptoms differed between ethnic groups and differences were observed concerning the perception and experience of menopause amongst cultures. Conclusion: the results of these studies did not support a single menopausal syndrome. Understanding the differences between ethnic groups could improve the quality of healthcare attention being provided for females and promote lifestyles contributing towards reducing the symptoms' incidence and severity, thereby improving females' quality of life.

Introduction: most studies about t he symptomatology of menopause have been done on Caucasian females living in western culture, leading to worry about whether their findings are really applicable to females from other ethnic/ racial groups. There is growing interest in studying the role of ethnic groups/race in the symptoms of menopause. Objective: reviewing the literature identifying studies comparing menopausal symptoms in different ethnic groups/races Materials and methods: PubMed, Cochrane and SciELO databases were searched using the key words "menopause", "ethnicity", "race". Studies were included which compared the presentation of climacteric symptoms in different ethnic groups; studies carried out on a single ethnic population were not included due to the subsequent difficulty in comparing results. Results: 55 studies were identified, of which 19 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of menopausal symptoms differed between ethnic groups and differences were observed concerning the perception and experience of menopause amongst cultures. Conclusion: the results of these studies did not support a single menopausal syndrome. Understanding the differences between ethnic groups could improve the quality of health-care attention being provided for females and promote lifestyles contributing towards reducing the symptoms' incidence and severity, thereby improving females' quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]