Menopausal symptoms assessment among middle age women in Kushtia, Bangladesh

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are few menopausal study data available in South East Asia especially in Bangladesh. This study was conducted in a well populated town named Kushtia, which is located in the western part of Bangladesh.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>This study was aimed to document the menopausal-related symptoms among middle age women of Kushtia region of Bangladesh.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>By using modified MRS (Menopause Rating Scale) questionnaire, 509 women aged 40-70 years were interviewed to document symptoms commonly associated with menopause.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The mean age of menopause was 51.14 years. The most prevalent symptoms reported include, feeling tired (92.90%); headache (88.80%); joint and muscular discomfort (76.20%); physical and mental exhaustion (60.90%) and sleeplessness (54.40%) which are followed by depressive mood (37.30%); irritability (36%); dryness of vagina (36%); hot flushes and sweating (35.80%); anxiety (34.20%). However, noted less frequent symptoms were sexual problem (31.20%); cardiac discomfort (19.10%) and bladder problem (12.80%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of menopausal symptoms found in this study correspond to other studies on Asian women however the prevalence of classical menopausal symptoms of hot flushes and sweating were lower compared to studies on Caucasian women.</p

Frequency of symptoms, determinants of severe symptoms, validity of and cut-off score for Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) as a screening tool: A cross-sectional survey among midlife Nepalese women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Majority of Nepalese women live in remote rural areas, where health services are not easily accessible. We determined the validity of Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) as a screening tool for identification of women with severe menopausal symptoms and cut-off MRS score for referral.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey was carried out between February and August, 2008. Trained health workers administered MRS and a questionnaire to 729 women (40 to 65 years) attending health screening camps in Kaski district of Western Development Region of Nepal. Information about demographics, menopausal status, and use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), chronic disease, self-perceived general health and reproductive history was also collected. Menopausal status was classified according to the Staging of Reproductive Ageing Workshop (STRAW). We calculated rates of menopausal symptoms, sensitivity, and specificity and likelihood ratios of MRS scores for referral to a gynaecologist. We also carried out multivariate analyses to identify the predictors for referral to a gynaecologist for severe symptoms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total 729 women were interviewed. Mean age at menopause was 49.9 years (SD 5.6). Most frequently reported symptoms were, sleeping problems (574, 78.7%), physical and mental exhaustion (73.5%), hot flushes (508, 69.7%), joint and muscular discomfort (500, 68.6%) and dryness of vagina (449, 61.6%). Postmenopausal women (247, 33.9%) and perimenopausal (215, 29.5%) women together experienced significantly higher prevalence of all symptoms than the premenopausal (267, 36.6%) women. MRS score of ≥16 had highest ratio for (sensitivity + specificity)/2. Women who reported urogenital symptoms [OR 5.29, 95% CI 2.59, 10.78], and self perceived general health as poor [OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.11, 1.53] were more likely to be referred to a gynaecologist for severe menopausal symptoms. While women reporting somatic [OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.63, 0.82] and psychological [OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74, 0.99] symptoms were less likely to be referred.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MRS may be used as a screening tool at a cut-off score of ≥16 with least misclassification rate. However, its utility may be limited by woman's general health status and occurrence of urogenital symptoms.</p

Distribution of Blood Pressure and Evaluation of Risk Factors for Hypertension among Women in Turkey

Background: The aim was to investigate the distribution of blood pressure (BP) and evaluate some of the risk factors con&amp;shy;nected to hypertension. This study was deemed important and relevant due to the increasing importance of hypertension and car&amp;shy;diovascular diseases.Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted on 4,446 women aged 40 and over who had presented themselves with any number and form of health reasons to any of the 19 primary health care (PHC) centers in a district of western Tur&amp;shy;key between February 1st and March 31st, 2006. The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee (JNC 7) was used for BP measurements and classifications. We performed Chi Square (x2) test, variance (ANOVA) and Logistic Regression Analy&amp;shy;sis with the statistical importance of P&amp;le; 0.05.Results: The respondents&apos; BPs showed an increase with age (P&amp;lt; 0.001, for each one). 56.7% of the study group had high BP. An advanced age (P&amp;lt; 0.001), obesity (P&amp;lt; 0.001), family history (P&amp;lt; 0.01), smoking (P&amp;lt; 0.01), hypercholesterolemia (P&amp;lt; 0.01), and not having health insurance (P&amp;lt; 0.01) were all deemed important risk factors for hypertension (P&amp;lt; 0.001). 6.6% of women had not had their BP previously measured. 24.5% of whose BP was high were not aware of their high BPs.Conclusion: The number of the respondents at risk to hypertension was high and many people reported that they were un&amp;shy;aware of hypertension and its risk factors. This shortfall in information and knowledge needs to be addressed by health edu&amp;shy;cation programs such as BP screening studies and periodical examinations targeting those at higher risk

Cigarette Smoking Habits among Men and Women in Turkey: A Meta Regression Analysis

Smoking has become more prevalent in Turkey than it has in those of western countries during the past decade. This study was conducted to make parameter estimations on gender related smoking habits with the minimum of variance. Of the ninety-two researches related to smoking habits conducted from 1981 to 2003 in Turkey, 60 were deemed appropriate for the application of Meta analysis and Meta regression analysis. The proportions of men and women smoking cigarettes were 0.51 and 0.35, respectively. The proportion of men smoking cigarette in 1996 and the years before it was 0.52, and for women as 0.35. However, the figures for the years following 1996 were 0.41 for men, and 0.32 for women. In the results of the Dersimonian and Laird random effect model, the Odds Ratio, which shows the tendency of men to smoke compared to women, was found 1.894 for the period of 1981-2003. A heterogeneous distribution between the researches was apparent (Q=1560.91, P&lt;0.001) as well as for Tau-square test (x2=0.55, z=6.29, P&lt;0.001). We propose that effective precautions should be considered, especially with regard to the introduction of laws to minimize the smoking habit for both sexes, with particular attention to women

Identification of violence in Turkish health care settings

PubMed: 16368766This study sought to investigate the contributing factors to and frequency of violence against health care workers (HCWs) working in western Turkey. The population is composed of a random sample of 1,209 HCWs from 34 health care workplaces. Written questionnaires were given to HCWs at all sites, where staff were instructed to register all types of violence they had experienced. In all, 49.5% of HCWs reported having experienced verbal, physical, or verbal and physical violence, with this total being made up of 39.6% men and 60.4% women. A larger percentage (69.6%) of general practitioners reported experiencing verbal abuse and physical violence by patients and patients' family members or friends. Younger workers, inexperienced staff, and those in emergency services were more likely to report violence. Violence directed toward HCWs is a common occupational hazard. Public health authorities should plan preventive interventions based on the findings of this stud