Assessment of Menopausal Symptoms among Early and Late Menopausal Midlife Bangladeshi Women and Their Impact on the Quality of Life

OBJECTIVES Every physical abnormal criterion has an impact on the health. Late menopause causes different physiological problems which alike early menopause. The research interest is associated with both early and late menopausal women of Bangladesh as only few menopausal studies available in South East Asia especially in Bangladesh. The aims of this study are not only to assess the symptoms of menopausal abnormality but also to determine the impact of these symptoms on the quality of life (QOL) of the female society in Bangladesh. METHODS Data mining techniques are used to rank the 22 factors (conducted with questionnaire) commonly associated with menopause. Among the participants menstruation that stops before 45 years was considered as early menopausal status and after 50 years as late menopausal. The mean of age and mean length of time in years, since menopause for all participants were 61.55±10.7 and 14.13±11.17, respectively. Recorded data indicated 67% were early menopausal women and 33% were late menopausal women. RESULTS Results indicated that feeling tired or lacking in energy and dizziness (83%) and depression (82%) have worst impact on QOL among all factors, respectively. The next prevalent symptoms included hot flashes (64%), osteoporosis (72%), sweating at night (63%), concentration problem (75%), irritability (63%), feeling tense (77%), headache (66%). However, less frequent factors included breathing problems (33%), loss of feeling (31%), coherent heart disease (13%) and type2 diabetics (9%). CONCLUSION Our study indicates that early menopausal women are facing more physiological problems than the late menopausal women on their QOL.