The effect of group counseling about the nutritional measures of Iranian traditional medicine on the vasomotor domain of quality of life in postmenopausal women

Menopause is a period in women’s lives with complications and consequences that can reduce the quality of life. The most common complications are vasomotor disorders which can affect sleep, life enjoyment, social activities and work. The usual treatment for these effects is hormone therapy but due to its side effects, most people tend to have complication-free treatments. One of these strategies is nutritional measures. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of group counseling about the nutritional measures of Iranian traditional medicine on vasomotor disorders in postmenopausal women.

Methods & Materials:

 This clinical trial study with multistage sampling was performed in 2018-2019 on 62 postmenopausal women referred to health center number 2 in Mashhad. Two health centers were selected as control or intervention group by Heads or Tails method in order to prevent the dissemination of the material. The intervention group received three sessions of the group counseling about the nutritional measures of Iranian traditional medicine. There was no intervention for the control group. The data collection tool was a questionnaire on the quality of life in menopause that was completed two months before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed on the SPSS software version 24 using independent t-test, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon tests.

There was no significant difference in the mean score of vasomotor between the two groups before the intervention (P>0.05) but after the intervention, the difference between the mean score of vasomotor before and after the intervention was -2.18±4.08 for the intervention group and 0.59±3.30 for the control group. A significant decrease in the vasomotor score was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group (P<0.001).

Group counseling about the nutritional measures of Iranian traditional medicine can help reduce vasomotor disorders. Clinical trial registry: IRCT20180626040239N1