Cognitive Function in Urban and Rural Postmenopausal Women

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Public Health

Background:

• Menopause is a known risk factor for cognitive decline in women.
• The number of postmenopausal women is rising globally, yet research on their cognitive function remains limited.
• This study addresses the scarcity of data by comparing cognitive function in urban versus rural postmenopausal women.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the cognitive function between postmenopausal women residing in urban and rural settings.
• To investigate the association between cognitive function and various socio-demographic factors in postmenopausal women.

Main Methods:

• A comparative cross-sectional study involving 87 urban and 87 rural postmenopausal women.
• Data collection utilized a semi-structured questionnaire with the Bengali version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale.
• Face-to-face interviews and record reviewing were employed, with statistical analysis performed using SPSS version 24.

Main Results:

• Rural women were older on average (60.00 years) than urban women (58.09 years).
• A significantly higher proportion of rural women were illiterate (66.7%) compared to urban women (35.6%).
• Abnormal cognitive function was more prevalent in rural postmenopausal women (60.9%) than in urban women (35.6%).

Conclusions:

• Rural postmenopausal women demonstrate a higher prevalence of abnormal cognitive function.
• Cognitive function is significantly associated with monthly family income, housing conditions, family structure, age at marriage, lifestyle, and comorbidities.
• Findings can inform policy development to enhance cognitive health among postmenopausal women.