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 womens attention to improve their quality of life.
Key words: Menopause; Middle-aged Women; Menopause Rating Scale
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