Papers of the Week

Introduction Menopause is an important period in a woman's life. It is the permanent cessation of menses for 12 months or more. Menopause can develop over a long period of time. The average age for menopause to start is 52 years, but it can begin at any time from age 40 to 58 years. Many symptoms are related to postmenopausal syndrome: hot flashes, irritability, mood swings, insomnia, dry vagina, difficulty concentrating, mental confusion, stress incontinence, urge incontinence, osteoporotic symptoms, depression, headache, and vasomotor symptoms. Quality of life (QOL) has been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an "individual's perceptions of their position in life in the context of the cultural and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns." Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among participants from Aseer's Healthy Cities. The sample was calculated using the formula of Swinscow and Cohen, and a total of 823 main cities were the target sample size. The sample was simply picked at random from October to December 2021. The Menopause Rating Scale (MRS)-related questionnaire is used to evaluate the symptoms of menopause in people who answer the questions themselves. Result The study included 869 participants, 98.3% of which are Saudi nationals. Of the participants, 82.1% were married. As regards the lifestyle of the participants in the study, 69% live with a husband and children. The mean age of the study participants was 42.5 (standard deviation (SD): 8.883) years. The mean number of participants with somatic vasomotor symptoms was 0.74 (SD: 94). The majority of the participants have sleep issues such as difficulty falling asleep, difficulty sleeping through the night, and waking up early (mean: 0.97, SD: 1.3), followed by hot flashes and sweating (mean: 0.65, SD: 1.165), and heart discomfort (mean: 0.63, SD: 12). Psychosocial symptoms are also common (mean: 0.95, SD: 1.16); the majority have depressive moods (mean: 1.09, SD: 1.35), followed by irritability (mean: 0.93, SD: 1.2), and anxiety (mean: 0.84, SD: 1.22). Physical symptoms are also prevalent, with a mean and SD of 0.91 and 1.03, respectively, with bladder problems having a mean and SD of 0.55 and 1.017, respectively. Finally, there were also sexual symptoms (mean: 0.70, SD: 1.09), with sexual problems having a mean and SD of 0.81 and 1.28, respectively. Conclusion The study found a high percentage of unawareness about menopause and a need to improve healthcare access and symptomatic treatment. The regression model of psychosocial risk factors is found to have a significant association with the increase of symptoms and using other medications for any reason, menstrual cycle pattern, and marital status.