Abstract

Background: Even though menopause is a natural phenomenon, it causes symptoms ranging from vasomotor symptoms,to sleep disturbance, mood disorders, loss of sexual desire, and vaginal dryness. During the menopausal transition,,women may experience a variety of symptoms. Many a time women are unaware of these symptoms and they do not,seek treatment for the same.
Objective: (1) To assess menopausal-related symptoms among middle-aged women using,menopause rating scale (MRS) and (2) to assess the severity of symptoms according to the menopausal status of women.,
Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted among 425 middle-aged women residing in field,practice areas of Urban Health Training Center of present teaching hospital. The menopausal status is classified according,to STRAW + 10 classifications. The English version of the MRS questionnaire was used as a tool for assessing menopausal,symptoms.
Results: Of 425 women evaluated, the mean age of attaining menopause was 42.8 years. Menopause-related,symptoms were present among 304 (71.5%) women. Majority of women suffered joint and muscular discomfort (62.6%),,47.5% had hot flushes, and physical as well as mental exhaustion. Logistic regression analysis reveals that postmenopausal,women had highest prevalence of menopausal symptoms as compared to other groups. Conclusion: Age of attaining,menopause was bit lower in present study. Availability of treatment modalities for various menopause-related symptoms,requires women’s attention to improve their quality of life.