Estimation of Mean age of Menopause in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Menopause is the most important event during the middle age period, which is characterized by cessation of menstruation for at least 12 months (not related to pregnancy, breast-feeding, or other hormonal disorders). Due to hormonal changes during this period, the risk of many diseases including osteoporosis and heart disease increases, therefore, studying this critical period of life seems essential. Totally, 34 papers were collected and analyzed by searching Magiran, Irandoc, Google scholar, ISI, Cochrane, Embase, SID, and PubMed databases. To pool mean menopause age in the retrieved studies, we used mean, standard deviation, and sample size in each study. The weighted mean and normal distribution were used to synthesize results. Confidence intervals were computed using random effects model in meta-analysis. The heterogeneity of the studies has been checked by I² statistics and the data were analyzed by applying R and STATA (Ver11/2) software. Findings: The total number of women in the studies was 27,250 with the mean age of 51.8 ± 4.79 years. The average age of menopause was 48.26 years (95% CI 46.85 to 49.67). Ten articles with the total sample size of 13,260 showed that the median of pregnancy age was 49.7 ± 1.52 years. Discussion & Conclusions: According to the results of the recent studies and the low mean age of menopause in Iran compared to the developed countries, to reduce the complications of this important period of life, extended health programs are recommended to be planned and implemented to improve the quality of life in women experiencing menopause.