Prevalence of menopausal symptoms and their impact on daily activities: A community based longitudinal study in Ragama, Sri Lanka

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms among women. DESIGN,SETTING AND METHODS: A community-based cross sectional study was done in a study population of a larger ongoing longitudinal study named ‘Ragama Health Study’. Randomly selected 954 women from Ragama Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area were included. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Impact on daily activities by menopausal symptoms were scored using a scale from 1-10.RESULTS: Out of 954 women in the study, 814(85.3%) were postmenopausal. Age of the population distributed from 41-74 years with mean of 59.51 years. Mean age of onset of the menopausal symptoms was 52.16(SD=8.095) years. Among the symptoms inquired, the domain of sexual activity contained the most commonly experienced symptom, decreased libido, with a 65.4% (n=937) positive responses while 20.5% of women experienced vaginal dryness.. Mean score on impact on daily activities by this was 7.79(SD 2.36). Psychosocial symptoms of forgetfulness, bad temper, irritability and poor concentration was present in 60.5%, 33.8%, 25.4% and 24.8% of positive responses respectively. Mean scores on impact on daily activities by psychosocial symptoms lied within the range of 4.55-5.52. Presence of experiencing hot flushes and increased sweating were 24.8% and 22.1% with a mean score of effect on daily activities at 5.24 and 5.65, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The rate of menopausal symptoms among this perimenopausal age group was significant and the impact on daily activities in this population was comparable to the global context