Evaluation of menopausal symptoms and its relationship with quality of life in three groups of premenopausal women, during menopause and after menopause in womens referred to Miandoab health centers, 2018

Abstract

Abstract Background: Menopause is a stage in a woman's life in which hormonal changes cause different symptoms in women, and the onset of symptoms affects the mental, physical, sexual, and overall dimensions of a person's health. Considering the importance of menopausal age in relation to women's health and insufficient knowledge of the early complications of menopause and lack of information related to the study of premenopausal and postmenopausal symptoms in Iran, this study was conducted (1) Estimation of symptoms in the three stages: premenopausal, menopause, and postmenopause, (2) compare of the prevalence of symptoms and analysis on a number of women in the menopausal transition phase,(3) Translate and validate the Persian version of the Menopause Syndrome Questionnaire(MRS). This study was conducted on women in Miandoab city of West Azerbaijan province. Methods: The present study was conducted in the form of a cross-sectional study in 2019. The research environment was Miandoab urban health service centers and the study population was 45-60 women referred to these centers. The MRS questionnaire was used to collect data, which is a valuable international tool for assessing menopausal symptoms, and its validity and reliability have been confirmed in many clinical and epidemiological studies. In this questionnaire, menopausal symptoms were divided into three subgroups: Somatic symptoms, Psycho-psychological symptoms, Genitourinary symptoms. The BREF-WHOQOL questionnaire of the World Health Organization was used to measure the quality of life, which its questions were in four dimensions: Physical Health, Psychological, Social Relationship, and Environment. Data were analyzed using version 26 of the SPSS software. Results: The most common menopausal symptoms were: a subset of "very severe" symptoms of deafness and night sweats (19.9%), and heart rate and heart discomfort with 11.9%, and from the category of "severe" symptoms with 22.7% belonged to muscle pain/joint pain. Significant differences in hot flashes or night sweats, muscle or joint pain, feelings of depression or sadness or misery, nervousness or aggression, anxiety, forgetfulness or loss of memory or lack of concentration, decreased libido, vaginal dryness or burning vaginal, urinary incontinence or difficulty urinating was observed between premenopausal, during and after menopause (p-value< 0.001). The mean overall scores of menopausal symptoms were significantly higher during "menopause" than "before menopause" and "after menopause" (p-value< 0.001). The overall scores of quality of life structures in "premenopausal" were higher than "during menopause" and "post menopause" and these differences were also significant based on one-way analysis of variance. Also, the overall scores of quality of life structures in "premenopausal" were higher than "during menopause" and "after menopause" and these differences were also significant based on one-way analysis of variance" (p-value< 0.001). Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test (KMO) is equivalent to 0.855 " (p-value< 0.001), and Bartlett sphericity test was significant (χ2= 1149.18) (p-value< 0.001), which indicated that the sample was fit in an acceptable range for validation. Conclusion: In the present study, hot flashes, night sweats, palpitations, and heart discomfort were the most common symptoms of menopause. The quality of life of women during and after menopause scored lower. It seems that if women have a lot of information and awareness about the physiological changes of this period, they will have a better understanding of this period to improving symptoms, dealing with complications, and referring to the health system for timely help and guidance. Keywords: Menopause, Health-related quality of life, women