ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms and understand the perception of quality of life and the attitudes of women towards the use of Hormone Replacement Therapy [HRT]. We aimed also to establish the correlation between menopausal symptoms with age, BMI and quality of life among the postmenopausal women
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the department of Obstetrics and gynecology of Ziauddin University Karachi, from June 2015 to December 2015. A total of 300 postmenopausal women between the ages of 40 and 70 years were enrolled and studied using an interview questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of self-perception of well-being, physical activity, socio-demographic data, and information regarding HRT and modified Menopausal Rating Scale [MRS]
Results: Mean age of the subjects was 57 years, with 38% of the study participants being illiterate. Most of the patients had mild somatic symptoms. Most frequently reported symptoms were joint and muscular pain [79.9%], anxiety and overall exhaustion [79.6%] and sweating and hot flushes [78.8%]. Very few women were using HRT [12.6%]. A significant link was found between women self-perception and increased weight, with severity of postmenopausal symptoms
Conclusion: Majority of women suffer from postmenopausal symptoms but in most cases it remains untreated due to lack of awareness, hesitancy and reluctance of the treating physicians. Women self-perception of menopause affects quality of life.Those who take it positively suffer from less symptoms