THE AGE AND SYMPTOMATOLOGY OF NATURAL MENOPAUSE AMONG UNITED-ARAB-EMIRATES WOMEN

Objectives: To determine the median age of natural menopause in United Arab Emirates women, the factors affecting that age and the prevalenc e of climacteric symptoms amongst those women. Methods: A population-b ased survey was conducted on a community sample of United Arab Emirate s women who had had natural menopause defined as cessation of menstrua tion for at least 6 months at the end of reproductive years. A total o f 742 women aged 40 years and above were recruited from both urban and rural areas of the country using the multi-stage stratified cluster s ampling technique. Data were collected using a structured questionnair e and face to face interviews and included a number of familial, repro ductive and life-style variables. Results: The median age of the menop ause in the United Arab Emirates is 48 years (mean = 47.3 +/- 3.29, ra nge 40-59). This is significantly lower than the median age reported f rom the West (50.3 years). The subject median age of the menopause was significantly related to that of the mother (P < 0.001), older sister (P < 0.001), parity (P < 0.0001) and the previous use of oral contrac eptive pills for more than 1 year (P < 0.001). Hot flushes were the co mmonest feature of the menopause occurring in 45% of women. Conclusion : The age of natural menopause in United Arab Emirates women, as in ot her developing countries, is less than in Western women and may be inf luenced by genetic factors, parity and previous use of oral contracept ives. Climacteric symptomatology, however, is similar in the different patient groups. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science ireland Ltd. All rights res erved.