Assessment of Climacteric Symptoms and Its Impact on Daily Lives of Employed and Unemployed Perimenopausal Women in Selected Rural Villages in South India

Abstract

Perimenopause is a transitional state which occurs in women in their mid-life. These women may experience climacteric symptoms that affect their day-to-day life. The aim of the study was to assess and compare climacteric symptoms and their impact on daily lives among employed and unemployed perimenopausal women. A cross-sectional survey was done on 160 rural south Indian women aged 40 to 55 years who were identified as symptomatic of perimenopause as per the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop 10+ (STRAW) staging criteria. The study participants were grouped as employed and unemployed. Climacteric symptoms were assessed using Greene Climacteric Scale and climacteric symptoms’ impact on daily lives was measured using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare the variables between the two groups. The total Greene Climacteric score for unemployed perimenopausal women were found to be significantly higher than the employed group of perimenopausal women (14.5 ± 7.23 versus 12.52 ± 4.9, p < 0.05). The majority (58.8%) of the employed group had minimum impact whereas; the majority (51.2%) of the unemployed group had an average impact score. There was a strong positive correlation between climacteric symptoms and their impact on the daily lives of perimenopausal women. Employment status is a significant factor in causing variation in the climacteric symptoms. Unemployed perimenopausal women suffered more climacteric symptoms than their employed counterparts.

Keywords:

• Greene Climacteric Scale
• perimenopausal woman
• perimenopausal symptoms
• employment
• rural Indian middle-aged woman

Acknowledgment

The author extends gratitude to the co-investigators and the participants for their cooperation.

Contributors

Tenzin Phagdol was the principal investigator, collected the data, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. Sushmitha Karkada and Laveena Barboza are the co-investigators who provided their expert guidance throughout the research and edited and corrected the manuscript. Brayal D’Souza and Varalakshmi Chandra Sekaran provided their guidance in analysis and editing of the manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.