English

Abstract

Every woman who lives beyond 50 years goes through a period of transition from reproductive to non-reproductive stages of life. Menopause is considered as a clinical marker of declining ovarian function. The common climacteric symptoms experienced by women during this period can be group into: vasomotor, somatic, psychological and sexual complaints. The aim of the study was to compare the climacteric symptoms among rural women who attained menopause and those who did not attained menopause in the age group of 43-55 years. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A cross-sectional study design was conducted in a rural area in Kerala. Data were collected from 320 women by interviewing with the help of a structured questionnaire consisting of a socio-demographic data, and the Greene's Climacteric Scale. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software Version 16.0 was used for statistical analyses. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the total score of climacteric symptoms and each sub-scale symptom scores (psychological, somatic, and sexual scores) among women who attained and not attained menopause. The X² test was applied to compare the proportion of the different grades of symptoms between the different menopausal statuses. The level P < 0.05 was considered as the cut-off value for significance RESULTS: The total Greene's climacteric scale score (p: 0.001), the psychological subscale scores (p: 0.007), the somatic subscale scores (p : 0.022) , the vasomotor subscale scores (p: 0.011) and the sexual subscale scores (p: 0.001) were significantly higher in women who attained menopause compared to those who did not. CONCLUSION: The climacteric symptoms vary significantly between women who attained menopause and women who did not attained menopause. INTRODUCTION: All women who live beyond 50 years go through a period of transition from reproductive to non-reproductive stages of life. Menopause is considered as a clinical marker of declining ovarian function. It implies the permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from the loss of ovarian follicular activity. The vasomotor symptoms of hot flushes and night sweats are the characteristic symptoms of menopause. These symptoms are directly resulted from depletion of estrogen level as women approaches menopausal stage and some of these women begin to experiences these menopausal symptoms before attaining menopause. The quality of life of women varies significantly on the menopausal status. Symptoms experienced during menopause affect the quality of life in postmenopausal women. The common climacteric symptoms experienced by them can be grouped into: vasomotor, somatic, psychological or sexual complaints. The prevalence and severity of climacteric symptoms varies widely from individual to individual in the same population and also from population to population.