Prevalence of menopausal related symptoms and their impact on quality of life among Egyptian women.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of menopausal-related symptoms and to evaluate their impact on quality of life (QoL) among a sample of menopausal women from Egypt. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional hospital-based study conducted at the Gynecology department, Suez Canal University, Ismailia - Egypt. A total 1,214 women aged 40 - 70 years were recruited and studied using an interview questionnaire. The questionnaire contains four main items: socio-demographic data, menstruation status assessment, modified Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS), and World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean age was 48.1 ± 10.3 years, with 26.6% of the studied participants were illiterates. According to menstruation status, 40.9% of the studied women were postmenopausal, 41.4% were premenopausal, while 17.7% were perimenopausal. Most of the studied participants have mild/moderate somatic symptoms. Mild/moderate depressive mode, irritability, and anxiety have been reported in 63%, 58.4%, and 58.2% of women, respectively. Postmenopausal women have significantly higher scores on MRS except for urogenital score that was higher in perimenopausal women. They also had significantly lower QoL score in all subscales of WHOQOL-BREF except for psychological domain that was lowest among perimenopausal women. MRS total score has significant negative correlation to all domains of WHOQOL questionnaire. CONCLUSION: Postmenopausal women have higher prevalence of menopausal symptoms that significantly affect their quality of life more than pre- and perimenopausal women. Those in the transition period (perimenopausal) have higher prevalence of psychological symptoms with higher impact on their psychological welfare.

Intimate partner violence among Egyptian pregnant women: incidence, risk factors, and adverse maternal and fetal outcomes.

AIMS: To assess incidence and risk factors of intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy among a sample of women from Egypt and to evaluate its impact on maternal and fetal adverse health outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After obtaining ethical approval, a total of 1,857 women aged 18 - 43 years completed the study and were investigated using an interview questionnaire. The questionnaire contains five main items: demographic characteristics of women, intimate partner characteristics, assessment of IPV during current pregnancy, and assessment of maternal as well as fetal/neonatal adverse outcomes. Women were also examined to detect signs of violence and identify injuries. RESULTS: Exposure to IPV during pregnancy was reported among 44.1% of the studied women. Emotional violence was the most common form. Women exposed to violence were of younger age, higher parity, and lower educational level. Their partners were older, less educated, and more likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol. Women were also found to have significantly higher incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes (miscarriage, preterm labor, and premature rupture of membrane), and fetal/neonatal adverse outcomes (fetal distress, fetal death, and low birth weight). A total of 297 cases had been exposed to physical violence (15.9%) vs 32.6% and 10% exposed to emotional and sexual violence, respectively. The most common form of physical violence was kicking. CONCLUSION: Violence during pregnancy is prevalent among Egyptian women. Exposure to violence was a significant risk factor for multiple adverse maternal and fetal health outcomes.