Prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms among menopausal women, Babol, Iran

Understanding prevalence of various menopausal symptoms and symptom severity in Iran will enhance reproductive health care. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms among menopausal women in Babol, Iran.

A cross sectional study was conducted on the 150 healthy postmenopausal women aged between 45–65 years in Babol city (located in Northern Iran), and cluster sampling was used as a method of sampling. The questionnaires used in this study include: symptom score card for measuring the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms and socio demographic data.

The mean ± SD age at natural menopause was 48.5 ± 4.1 years. The most prevalent symptoms were back pain and joint pain (48.7%), anxiety and unusual tiredness (48.0%), irritability (46.7%), muscle pains (44.0%) and hot flashes (42.7%). The average overall symptom score card in the study for menopausal symptoms was 22.1 ± 9.8. The severity of symptoms was in the range of mild to moderate in 42% of samples, and 58% of samples had moderate to severe symptoms.

This study showed that more than half of the women had moderate to severe menopausal symptoms and an earlier mean age of menopause (48.5 y) for women in Babol, Iran.