Symptoms of natural menopause among Iranian women living in Tehran, Iran

Background: Menopause is a step of a woman’s life when hormonal changes cause menstruation to stop permanently. Menopausal symptoms can affect women's health and differ between different races and societies. Objective: The aim of this study was to survey the symptoms associated with menopause among Iranian women living in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study which has been done between 2004 and 2005, women aged equal or more than 35 years old living in districts of Tehran were selected by multistage randomized cluster sampling. For each woman a questionnaire was completed. The data gained from each questionnaire was analyzed by using SPSS version 13. Results: At time of study, 2462 women were naturally menopause. The mean age of natural menopause onset was 47.71 (SE=0.11) years. In 52.9% of cases, the onset of menopause was sudden. The symptoms associated with menopause were night sweats (61.2%), joint and muscle pain (59.9%), hot flashes (53.1%), fatigue (45.6%), decreased libido (33.9%), insomnia (33.7%), weight gain (30.1%), forgetfulness (24.9%) and urinary symptoms (17.4%). Conclusion: This study showed that night sweats, joint and muscle pain and hot flashes are the most common symptoms associated with menopause.