Gynaecological and other health problems of postmenopausal women and their health seeking behaviour in rural Terai, Nepal

Abstract

Background: There is very few data available in menopausal study done in Nepal. The data is even less on the various gynecological and medical problems postmenopausal women are suffering from. This study was done in Duhabi area, a community in Eastern Nepal, around the Comprehensive Health Service area of a community hospital under B.P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. Objective: This study was done to document the various gynecological problems among the postmenopausal women and their relation with the socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: By using specific questionnaire, 234 post-menopausal women were interviewed regarding menopausal symptoms, other gynaecological problems and medical problems and their health seeking behaviour. Results: Our study showed that the most common symptoms among the post-menopausal women were loss of libido (53%) and hot flushes (41.5%). Other noted symptoms found were vaginal dryness (29.1%) and excessive vaginal bleeding (14.5%). The most common urinary symptoms were urgency (34.2%), dysuria (17.1%) and incontinence (17.1%). Uterine prolapse was reported by 6.4% of respondents. The most common medical condition seen in our study was low back ache (70.1%). Despite majority (62%) seeking medical treatment for their symptoms only 1.7% of the respondents were using hormone replacement therapy. Conclusion: The prevalence of gynaecological problems among the post-menopausal women was high in our study with the main symptoms of loss of libido and hot flushes. Majority of women with postmenopausal symptoms sought medical care for their problems.

Quality of life of postmenopausal women in rural area, Nepal

“…21 The findings are opposed to the study conducted by Paudel et al where hot flushes was the most frequently reported symptom. 22 The prevalence of menopausal symptoms may show differences due to the geographical variation. Poor memory was the most prevalent symptom in psychosocial domain which was similar to the findings of other two studies.…”

“…30 The majority (76.7%) in our study had positive health seeking behaviour which is similar to the study carried out in Nepal as well as in Nigeria. 22,31 But the study conducted in Pune had only less than half percentage of the respondents seeking health services for any treatment. 30 However, the MENQOL score was higher among the women who were having positive health seeking behaviour.…”

Quality of Life of Peri and Postmenopausal Women attending Outpatient Department of Obstretics and Gynecology of A Tertiary Care Hospital

“…Similarly, study done to observe symptoms among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women shows symptoms of physical, psychological and sexual problems like palpitation, sleep disturbance,depressed mood, loss of libido and dry vagina. [8][9][10][11] Age of women shows statistically significant with QOL(p=0.045) which states that less the age of women, better the quality of life. Single/widow or divorced women had bad QOL in comparison to women living with Quality of Life of Peri and Postmenopausal Women their husbands (p=0.026).…”

Chronic morbidity and health seeking behavior among post-menopausal women of Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City, Nepal

“…11 There is differences among the prevalence of the group of symptoms in the post-menopausal period in different countries and even within same country of different culture. 13,14,15,16,17 These variation in the postmenopausal symptoms in different study in Nepal and other countries may be due to the difference in living style, cultural belief, understanding of symptoms and the different other socio demographical factors.…”