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Published:
Feb 19, 2013Keywords:
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Prevalence of postmenopausal symptoms in gynaecological practice in Nigeria
Abstract
Background: menopausal symptoms can be a nuisance and affect the quality of life if not properly managed. Ethnic variations in the severity of symptoms and incidence have little been studied. The perspective of gynaecologist practising in Nigeria based on the number of cases and common complaints is germaine to knowing the severity in the black African woman
Objective: to assess the frequency of postmenopausal symptoms encountered in the Gynaecologist practice and their preferred management options for them.
Method: a questionnaire based survey of 84 Gynaecologist practising in Nigeria was conducted. The cross sectional study was done at a conference of Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria.
Results: Half of the respondents attended to an average of 11-30 patients in a week. On a scale of 1 to 9, infertility was ranked first while menopausal complaints was ranked seventh among common gynaecological problems encountered in respondents' practice. Seventy-four (90.2%) respondents reported that <10% of their patients present with menopausal complaints. The most common complaint among women presenting with menopausal problems was hot flushes (81.0%) while menopause-related fracture was the least (4.8%). The treatment modality employed in most cases is counselling and reassurance (53.0%) while hormone replacement therapy is prescribed for less than a
third of affected women.
Conclusion: The frequency of menopausal complaints in gynaecological practice in Nigeria is low. There is need to investigate the underlying reasons for the low prevalence of menopausal problems among Nigerian women compared to those in other parts of the world.
Keywords. Menopausal symptoms. Prevalence, Gynaecological practice in Nigeria.
