Vasomotor and urogenital problems at midlife: a study on rural and urban women in India

Abstract

Background: During the transition to menopause, women experience symptoms which vary widely. This variation is attributed not only to the hormonal change, but also to the effect of socio-demographic and reproductive factors.

Aim: The present research aimed to (a) find out the rural–urban difference in experiencing menopausal problems at peri-menopausal and post-menopausal stages and (b) to identify the factors associated with these problems.

Subjects and methods: In total, 1400 Bengali speaking, Hindu women, aged 40–55 years were selected from rural and urban areas of West Bengal. Data on socio-demographic and reproductive variables and menopausal problems were collected using appropriate tools.

Results: Bivariate analysis finds a rural–urban difference for vasomotor, urinary and vaginal problems (p ≤ 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed socio-demographic and reproductive factors were significantly (p ≤ 0.005) associated with vasomotor (age at menarche, menopausal and residential status, duration of breastfeeding, menstrual discharge type, use of OCP, sterilization and BMI), urinary (ages at menarche and marriage, menstrual bleeding length, use of OCP, menopausal status, monthly household expenditure and BMI) and vaginal (type of menstrual discharge, menopausal status, educational level, monthly household expenditure and BMI) problems for this study group.

Conclusions: Socio-demographic and reproductive factors seem to be significantly associated with menopausal problems. Residential status appears to be a confounder variable for menopausal problems.

• Midlife
• rural–urban
• vasomotor and urogenital problems

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to our study participants for their help and co-operation and to the University Grants Commission, India for providing financial support. We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Christine R. Finnan and Jessica Williams of the College of Charleston, South Carolina and to Dr Arupendra Mozumdar of Population Council, Reproductive Health Programme, India for improving the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.