Investigating the Association between Menopausal Age and Climacteric Symptoms

Menopause is an important event in the life of every woman and has a major effect on her health. The most obvious sign of menopause is permanent stop of menstruatewhich is the consequence of cessation of ovarian function and it has specific clinical symptoms. The Present study was designed to assess the association between mean age of menopauses and climacteric symptoms in menopause women in Gorgan city, 2009.

This cross-sectional population-based study was held on 804 menopause women in 8 Gorgan health centers who were chosen through multi-stage sampling method. The subjects were selected randomly. Data were collected by the means of a questionnaire that included demographic questions, menstrual characteristics, healthy behaviors, public health status and frequency of climacteric symptoms. The questionnaire validity and reliability was assessed via pilot study and internal consistency was confirmed by Cronbach's Alpha 0.78.Collected data were analyzed by using SPSS statistical software version 13, variance analysis test. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The most frequent climacteric symptoms in menopause women were flushing (75%), palpitation (71.3%), sweating (66.5%), anxiety (52.6%), insomnia (52.1%), joint pain (50.9%) and.The results showed significant associations among sweats, sleep disturbances, poor memory or forgetfulness, vaginal discharge, headache and menopause age (p<0.05). The menstrual cessation pattern was sudden in 59 (7.3%) and gradual in 727(90.4 %) participants. Premature menopause had happened in 81(10.1%) and post-mature menopause in 154(19.2 %) in women.

High prevalence of some climacteric symptoms and their association with menopausal age among participants.