The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia
Objectives To document the common menopausal symptoms and quality of life in indigenous women of Sarawak in Malaysia. Methods A face-to-face interview using the Menopause-specific Quality of Life questionnaire was conducted with 276 indigenous Sarawakian women aged 40–65 years to determine the m...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
Thomson Reuters
2009
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/1/The%20menopausal%20experience%20among%20indigenous%20women%20%28abstract%29.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/ http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13697130902919519 |
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| Summary: | Objectives To document the common menopausal symptoms and quality of life in
indigenous women of Sarawak in Malaysia.
Methods A face-to-face interview using the Menopause-specific Quality of Life
questionnaire was conducted with 276 indigenous Sarawakian women aged 40–65
years to determine the mean age of menopause and common symptoms (divided into
vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual domains) associated with menopause.
Results The mean age at menopause of postmenopausal women was 50.78+2.47
years (range 47.3–58.2 years). The most common symptoms reported were aching in
muscles and joints (82.6%), lack of energy (77.5%) and low backache (77.2%). The
typical menopausal symptoms of hot flushes, night sweats, sweating and vaginal dryness
were experienced by 42.4%, 34.8%, 29.7% and 49.3%, respectively of the women
studied. Perimenopausal women (n¼114) experienced the most physical and
psychosocial symptoms, while postmenopausal women (n¼102) experienced most
sexual symptoms. Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women were reported to suffer
more than premenopausal women (p50.001) within the four domains of symptoms
(vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual).
Conclusions The menopausal symptoms in this study correspond to those in other
studies on Asian women but the prevalence of typical and classical menopausal
symptoms was lower compared to studies on Caucasian women. The perimenopausal
women had the most significant decrease in quality of life, followed by postmenopausal
women and premenopausal women. Vasomotor symptoms had a predominant influence
on the quality of life. |
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