Study of epidemiological features of health problems in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women in an urban community

Introduction: Menopause is said to be universal reproductive phenomenon. Menopause although not a disease is associated with annoying physiological changes and varied symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, urinary and genital changes, dyspareunia, insomnia and many psychological dysfunctions such as anxiety, depression, lack of concentration and decreased self-esteem. Every woman’s experience of the menopause is unique; she may experience all of the symptoms or none of them. Some find the transition barely noticeable while others find it life altering. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among peri and postmenopausal women aged 40-60 years residing at Government colony, Bandra, Mumbai, Maharashtra for a period of 1-year. A predesigned and pretested questionnaire was used for collecting data. A booklet on “care during menopause” was used for giving health education. Results: In this study, mean age at natural menopause was 45.32 years (standard deviation ±2.79). Our study participants reported mostly muscular and joint pain (44.86%), urological symptoms (23.43%), vasomotor symptoms (21.14%), vulvovaginal symptoms (19.43%), psychological symptoms (15.14%), weight gain (14.86%), psychosexual symptoms (11.43%) and hirsutism (1.43%). Conclusions: There is a necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to the problems of menopause with more stress on promotive and preventive interventions. There should be provision of relevant health services, health education and promotional activities to cope up with the health needs of women in their postmenopausal years.