Women's perception and experience of menopause: a community-based study in Alexandria, Egypt

To determine symptoms, perceptions and practices after natural menopause by women aged 50-59 years, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 450 women from Alexandria. The most frequently recalled symptoms were tiredness [96.0%], headache [95.1%], hot flushes [90.7%], skin wrinkles [90.7%] and decreased sexual desire [89.1%]. About 91% of women had never heard about hormone replacement therapy; 42.7% would expose their body to the sun; 12.4% were moderately active the year before menopause. Multiple regression analysis indicated that women's knowledge about menopause was related to marital status, education and employment status; practices were related to pattern of menopause, age of menopause and income