Parametric Estimation of Age Patterns at Natural Menopause in Shahrood; Semnan Province, Iran, 2007

Menopause is defined as the permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from the loss of ovarian follicular activity which is recognized to have occurred after 12 consecutive months of amenorrhea, for which there is no other obvious pathological or physiological cause. It leads to changes in the quality of life, osteoporosis and heart diseases in affected women. In this paper the pattern of age of natural menopause in Shahrood (in Semnan province, Iran) was studied. This cross-sectional study enrolled 1392 women who were 30 years old or older. They were randomly selected using a cluster sampling method and interviewed to fill out a questionnaire including required data. An exclusion criterion was the presence of abnormal menopause due to surgery. Finally 1338 women remained in the study and the pattern of the age of menopause was estimated for them calculating the prevalence of menopause in each age group. Mean and median ages at natural menopause were 53.2 5.7 and 50.7 years respectively. The prevalence of menopause was low from age 30 to 42, but it showed a steady increase to the age of 54 years old. The prevalence of natural menopause slowed down after the age of 54 in our study. Findings of our study showed that mean age at natural menopause in Shahrood is higher than other regions of Iran. However, careful estimation of age at natural menopause needs further studies using appropriate methodology in other regions of Iran.