The association of sociodemographic factors and history of chronic diseases on menopausal symptoms: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Menopausal symptoms are very diverse in terms of prevalence and severity, and this difference is due to various factors such as psychological factors, sociocultural status, lifestyle, geographical location, and other factors. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and evaluate the predictive factors related to the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional analytical study that was performed on 214 women aged 35-65 years old who were referred to Alzahra Educational, Research and Treatment Center in Rasht, Iran. The data collection tool was a valid and reliable questionnaire, using the list of menopausal symptoms and a checklist of subjects' general characteristics.

RESULTS: 16.8% of postmenopausal women in our study had at least one menopausal symptom. Using multiple linear regression, race ( p  = 0.02), history of chronic diseases ( p  = 0.04), place of residence ( p  = 0.02), and marital satisfaction ( p  = 0.02) were associated with menopausal symptoms. Nineteen percent of the covariates related to the logistics function were explained by the predictor variables in the model.

CONCLUSION: Evaluation of menopausal symptoms showed that the severity of menopausal symptoms was related to factors such as body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, place of residence, marital satisfaction, and history of chronic diseases, and need to address BMI, psychological issues, and chronic illness.