The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia
Objectives To document the common menopausal symptoms and quality of life in indigenous women of Sarawak in Malaysia. Methods A face-to-face interview using the Menopause-specific Quality of Life questionnaire was conducted with 276 indigenous Sarawakian women aged 40–65 years to determine the m...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Thomson Reuters
2009
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/1/The%20menopausal%20experience%20among%20indigenous%20women%20%28abstract%29.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848838128915185664 |
|---|---|
| author | Syed Alwi, S.A.R Lee, P.Y. Awi, I. Grimwood, Keith Mallika, Premsenthil Md Haizal, M.N. |
| author_facet | Syed Alwi, S.A.R Lee, P.Y. Awi, I. Grimwood, Keith Mallika, Premsenthil Md Haizal, M.N. |
| author_sort | Syed Alwi, S.A.R |
| building | UNIMAS Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objectives To document the common menopausal symptoms and quality of life in
indigenous women of Sarawak in Malaysia.
Methods A face-to-face interview using the Menopause-specific Quality of Life
questionnaire was conducted with 276 indigenous Sarawakian women aged 40–65
years to determine the mean age of menopause and common symptoms (divided into
vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual domains) associated with menopause.
Results The mean age at menopause of postmenopausal women was 50.78+2.47
years (range 47.3–58.2 years). The most common symptoms reported were aching in
muscles and joints (82.6%), lack of energy (77.5%) and low backache (77.2%). The
typical menopausal symptoms of hot flushes, night sweats, sweating and vaginal dryness
were experienced by 42.4%, 34.8%, 29.7% and 49.3%, respectively of the women
studied. Perimenopausal women (n¼114) experienced the most physical and
psychosocial symptoms, while postmenopausal women (n¼102) experienced most
sexual symptoms. Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women were reported to suffer
more than premenopausal women (p50.001) within the four domains of symptoms
(vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual).
Conclusions The menopausal symptoms in this study correspond to those in other
studies on Asian women but the prevalence of typical and classical menopausal
symptoms was lower compared to studies on Caucasian women. The perimenopausal
women had the most significant decrease in quality of life, followed by postmenopausal
women and premenopausal women. Vasomotor symptoms had a predominant influence
on the quality of life. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T06:50:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | unimas-16759 |
| institution | Universiti Malaysia Sarawak |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T06:50:38Z |
| publishDate | 2009 |
| publisher | Thomson Reuters |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | unimas-167592017-06-22T00:38:43Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/ The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia Syed Alwi, S.A.R Lee, P.Y. Awi, I. Grimwood, Keith Mallika, Premsenthil Md Haizal, M.N. RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine Objectives To document the common menopausal symptoms and quality of life in indigenous women of Sarawak in Malaysia. Methods A face-to-face interview using the Menopause-specific Quality of Life questionnaire was conducted with 276 indigenous Sarawakian women aged 40–65 years to determine the mean age of menopause and common symptoms (divided into vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual domains) associated with menopause. Results The mean age at menopause of postmenopausal women was 50.78+2.47 years (range 47.3–58.2 years). The most common symptoms reported were aching in muscles and joints (82.6%), lack of energy (77.5%) and low backache (77.2%). The typical menopausal symptoms of hot flushes, night sweats, sweating and vaginal dryness were experienced by 42.4%, 34.8%, 29.7% and 49.3%, respectively of the women studied. Perimenopausal women (n¼114) experienced the most physical and psychosocial symptoms, while postmenopausal women (n¼102) experienced most sexual symptoms. Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women were reported to suffer more than premenopausal women (p50.001) within the four domains of symptoms (vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual). Conclusions The menopausal symptoms in this study correspond to those in other studies on Asian women but the prevalence of typical and classical menopausal symptoms was lower compared to studies on Caucasian women. The perimenopausal women had the most significant decrease in quality of life, followed by postmenopausal women and premenopausal women. Vasomotor symptoms had a predominant influence on the quality of life. Thomson Reuters 2009 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/1/The%20menopausal%20experience%20among%20indigenous%20women%20%28abstract%29.pdf Syed Alwi, S.A.R and Lee, P.Y. and Awi, I. and Grimwood, Keith and Mallika, Premsenthil and Md Haizal, M.N. (2009) The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia. Climacteric, 12. pp. 548-556. ISSN 1369-7137 http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13697130902919519 DOI: 10.3109/13697130902919519 |
| spellingShingle | RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine Syed Alwi, S.A.R Lee, P.Y. Awi, I. Grimwood, Keith Mallika, Premsenthil Md Haizal, M.N. The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia |
| title | The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia |
| title_full | The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia |
| title_fullStr | The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia |
| title_full_unstemmed | The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia |
| title_short | The menopausal experience among indigenous women of Sarawak, Malaysia |
| title_sort | menopausal experience among indigenous women of sarawak, malaysia |
| topic | RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine |
| url | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/16759/1/The%20menopausal%20experience%20among%20indigenous%20women%20%28abstract%29.pdf |