Frequency and Severity of Menopausal Symptoms and Its Relationship with Demographic Factors in Pre-and Postmenopausal Women of Ahvaz, Iran

Menopause is a natural event in women life، but some of its symptoms are severe enough to affect negatively on normal daily activities of women. There are different tools to measure and evaluate the symptoms of menopause. One of these tools is Menopause Rating Scale (MRS). The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms in pre-and postmenopausal women using MRS and its relationship with demographic factors. This descriptive، analytical and cross sectional study was carried out on 512 pre-and postmenopausal women in Ahvaz، Iran، 2012. Data gathering tools were demographic and MRS questionnaires. MRS questionnaire consisted of 11 symptoms of menopause in three domains (somatic، psychological، urogenital) that scored on a 5 point Likert scale. The questionnaires were completed by face to face interviews for all samples. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16، t-test and ANOVA. P value less than 0. 05 was considered significant. 344 cases (67. 2%) were postmenopausal and 168 cases (32. 8%) were premenopausal. Total MRS score was 23. 12±8. 96 which showed significant difference between premenopausal and postmenopausal groups (p<0. 0001). The most prevalent symptom in premenopausal (62. 5%) and postmenopausal (71. 6%) women was muscle and joint pain. Worst complain was related to joint and muscular pain in premenopausal (2. 30±1. 29) and postmenopausal (2. 79±1. 47) groups. There was a significant difference between total MRS score and education (p=0. 01 in postmenopausal and p The most prevalent symptom in pre-and postmenopausal women was muscle and joint pain. Athletes and non-smokers women and those who had higher education and income had better MRS score.