[Quantitative comparison of un-stimulated whole saliva flow rate among menopausal women and same aged men]

ABSTRACT

Menopause can be associated with psycho-somatic changes in oro-facial areas like xerostomia and Burning Mouth Syndrome, although these findings are controversial. The present study sought to compare the Un-stimulated Whole Saliva [UWS] flow rate of a group including menopausal and postmenopausal women and same-aged men. In this cross-sectional analytic-descriptive study 40 menopausal and post-menopausal women [as experimental-group] and 40 same-aged men [as control group] without any systemic diseases and any drug consumption were divided into 2 groups, xerostomia was evaluated by a questionnaire, and their psychological conditions were assessed with HAD scale. UWS flow rate was measured by the spitting method. Data were analyzed by chi-square, Krusscal Walis and Mann-Whitney tests. Mean of UWS flow rates in experimental group was significantly less than that in control group [P=0.006]; no significant difference was found between the two groups regarding psychological condition. Also, menopausal women had significantly greater xerostomia than men [45% vs 15%] [P=0.003]. Based on this study, xerostomia and reduction in UWS flow rate are sequences of menopause, these findings necessitate the increasing awareness of menopausal and postmenopausal women for controlling the methods of these problems