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

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: 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.