Vol. 6, Issue 5, Part G (2020)

Abstract
Introduction: Menopause is a physiological event in a woman’s life. It is caused by aging of ovaries which leads to decline in the production of ovarian gonadotropins estrogen and progesterone. The deficiency of these hormones elicits various somatic, vasomotor, sexual and psychological symptoms that impair the overall quality of life of women. Objectives: (i) To determine the mean age of menopause in Kashmiri women. (ii) To evaluate the severity of menopausal symptoms among Kashmiri women. (iii) To analyze the impact of menopausal symptoms on quality of life among Kashmiri women visiting hospital. Methods: The study was conducted in the Postgraduate Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Lalla Ded Hospital, Government Medical College, Srinagar. Postmenopausal Kashmiri women between the age of 45-55 years with at least one year of amenorrhea and those who had attained natural menopause in last 5 years. Information regarding socio-demographic profile and reproductive parameters (such as parity, age of menarche, regularity of menses, age of menopause, and years since last menstruation) were recorded. For assessment of the menopausal symptoms Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) was used. MRS is an 11-item questionnaire. For the assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL), The Menopause Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) was used. Results: This study included 200 Kashmiri women aged 45-55 years with a mean age of 50.7+5.29 years. Age at natural menopause was found to be 48.6+3.75 years. The three symptoms reported to be most prevalent included joint and muscular discomfort (84.5%), physical and mental exhaustion (65.5%) and hot flushes and sweating (46.5%). Of those who reported muscle and joint discomfort, 42.6% considered the symptoms to be moderate to very severe. The highest mean score was obtained for physical domain (3.62+0.358) followed by psychosocial (2.97+0.605), vasomotor (2.73+0.945) and sexual (2.41+0.909) domains respectively. Conclusion: The current study revealed that an increase in frequency, intensity of menopausal symptoms is related to poor physical, psychological, vasomotor, and sexual health-related QOL among women in the post reproductive period.