BackgroundMenopause is a natural phenomenon occurring as women approach middle-age. It is characterized by declining of ovarian function and onset of the last menstrual period and subsequent 12-month cessation of menstruation. Due to a growing aging population and longer life expectancies, sub-Saharan African women will spend a significant portion of their lives in postmenopause. Menopausal symptom research has been primarily conducted on Caucasian women from high-income countries. Understanding menopause symptom prevalence and perceptions among diverse women in Ethiopia will better inform reproductive health care.MethodsWe conducted a multi-stage, cross-sectional study on 226 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women aged 30-49 years in Gulele sub-city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, menopausal status and an 11-item Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaire. Statistical analyses consisted of descriptive data and chi-squared analyses.ResultsStudy participants were 40.4 ± 5.9 years, on average, with the majority married, educated at secondary school level, and comprised different ethnicities and wealth tertiles. The most prevalent types of menopausal symptoms reported from the MRS were from somatic subscale (65.9%) while psychological (46.0%) and urogenital subscale symptoms (30.5%) were also prevalent. The most commonly reported individual symptoms were: hot flushes (65.9% (95% CI: 59.4%–72.1%)), difficulty falling asleep (49.6% (95% CI: 42.9%-56.3%)), depressive mood (46.0% (95% CI: 39.4%-52.8%)), irritability (45.1% (95% CI: 38.5%-51.9%)), and anxiety (39.8% (95% CI: 33.4%-46.5%)). Each of the somatic, psychological, and urogenital MRS subscale scores were higher among postmenopausal women compared to perimenopausal women. Women self-reported differing severity levels of symptoms with high severity reported in 8.4% of total MRS, 1.3% of somatic, 10.6% of psychological, and 8.4% of urogenital scales.ConclusionsOur study provides the first presentation of menopausal symptoms among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women in the Gulele sub-city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We capture the prevalence of menopausal symptoms experienced as well as self-rated severity through the MRS. Our findings reflect menopausal symptoms in our specific study population and have been found to be consistent with previous international research.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12905-017-0484-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is used to describe physical, cognitive, affective, and behavioral symptoms that affect young and middle-aged women occurring cyclically during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Despite the considerable prevalence and impact of PMS on individuals, their families and communities that interferes with the development of nations, many professionals are still unaware of it and little attention has been given in developing countries like Ethiopia, especially for university students. Therefore, this study was aimed for assessing the magnitude of premenstrual syndrome, associated factors and coping mechanisms among Wolkite university female regular students, 2021. Methods Institutional-based cross sectional study was conducted among Wolkite University regular female students from June 15/10/2021 to 30/10/2021 by using simple random and multistage with systematic random sampling technique to select the study participants (n = 591). Data were collected using a self-administered, pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. Premenstrual syndrome scales comprised of 40 questions with three sub-scales were used to determine Premenstrual syndrome. Data were cleaned, coded and entered into Epi-data version-3.1, and analyzed using SPSS software version 25. Descriptive statistics were computed for independent variables as well as for coping mechanisms and presented in narration, tables and graphs. Analytic analysis schemes including bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression were computed to identify factors associated with premenstrual syndrome and those variables with a P value of < 0.05 in multivariable analysis were declared as statistically significant. Result From the total of 631 study subjects, only 591 had completed the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 93.7%. From 591 study participants, 224 (37.9%) [95% CI: (34, 40.9)] of them had premenstrual syndrome. Abdominal cramp (78.8%), depression (73.3%) and fatigue (72.9%) were frequent premenstrual symptoms experienced by students. Having family history of PMS [AOR: 4.05; 95% CI: (2.49, 6.58)], no history of sexual intercourse [AOR: 2; 95% CI: (1.12, 3.47)], severe menstrual pain intensity [AOR: 3.09; 95% CI: (1.58, 6.05)], irregular menstrual cycle [AOR: 2.26; 95% CI: (1.41, 3.62)], early age of menarche (< 13 years) [AOR: 2.64; 95% CI: (1.34, 5.19)], long duration of menses (≥ 7 days) [AOR: 3.56; 95% CI: (1.53, 8.37)] and using many pads (> 8) during menstruation [AOR: 4.44; 95% CI: (2.16, 9.12)] were factors significantly associated with premenstrual syndrome. 93.4% of students apply at least one coping mechanism for premenstrual symptoms, of which; taking rest (67.6%) and sleeping (60.7%) were common strategies. Conclusion In this study, premenstrual syndrome was found to be a problem of many students. Abdominal cramp, depressed feeling and fatigue were the predominant premenstrual symptoms experienced by students. Taking rest and sleeping were mostly applied by students as a coping mechanism. Family history of PMS, no history of sexual intercourse, intense menstrual pain, use of many pads during menstruation, irregular menstrual cycle, early menarche, and long duration of menses were found to be predictors of premenstrual syndrome. PMS needs great attention as part of the health care service in Ethiopia by involving all stockholders, including policy makers and health care professionals, to reduce its impact on the academic performance of university students.

questions such as "amount of blood loss requiring medical treatment" (p < 0.001) and "signs of placental separation" (p < 0.001). The opinions of the comadronas with respect to management of the normal birthing process and possible complications also showed a positive change overall (p < 0.005), but with age contributing to statistically significant differences in results. Although knowledge improved irrespective of age, older comadronas were less likely than younger comadronas to change their opinions on their practices.

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