Assessment of the variation in menopausal symptoms with age, education and working/non-working status in north-Indian...

To study the variation of the menopause rating scale (MRS) scores with age, working/non-working and educated/uneducated status in a cohort of north-Indian subpopulation and to look for the possible reasons for the incurred variations. MRS is a well-known and validated instrument for assessing the frequency and intensity of menopausal symptoms.

A menopause clinic was organized in collaboration with a primary care centre (under the guidance of a gynecologist). A random sample of 208 women aged 35-65 years participated in the study. The MRS scale, a self-administered standardized questionnaire was applied with additional patient related information (age at menopause, level of education, working/non-working and exercising or not).

The results were evaluated for psychological (P), somatic (S), and urogenital (U) symptoms. The average age at which menopause set in, in the cohort was found to be 48.7+/-2.3 years (46.4-51 years). Based on the average age at the menopause, the cohort was divided into peri (35-45), menopausal/early menopause (46-51) and the postmenopausal (52-65) groups. A significantly higher % of perimenopausal women (36%) showed a P score of > or =7; while a higher % of postmenopausal showed S score and U score > or =7 (>40%; p< or =0.001). Working women seem to suffer more from psychological symptoms whereas non-working women showed a greater incidence of somatic symptoms. Educated women showed a lower incidence of psychological and somatic symptoms.

Present study indicates that age, level of education and working/non-working status (in a group of women with same socio-cultural background) may also contribute to significant variations in menopausal symptoms.