The Incidence and Severity of Menopausal Symptoms and their Impact on the Quality of Work: A Cross-Sectional Study in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: The number of working Saudi women is significantly increased. Many women go through menopause when in employment. This work aims to assess the severity of menopausal symptoms (MS) among working Saudi women. Methods: A cross-sectional study of Saudi women working at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University (PNU), aged 45–55 years. It is a self-administered questionnaire about the Menopause Rating Scale assessing the severity of MS and their effect on the work. Results: 11.8% of participants had severe/very severe MS; the most common MS were irritability, anxiety, depressive mood, and sleep problems. There was a significant association between osteoarthritis and joint pain of MS. MS that had a negative impact on work were tiredness/lack of energy, sleep disturbances, mood swings, joint and muscular aches followed by irritability/anxiety, and hot flushes/sweating. There was no statistically significant association between the severity of MS and body mass index or marital status or educational level, occupation, income, medical conditions, or physical exercise. The majority of women at PNU found that the work environment had a minimum negative impact on their MS. The most common strategies to manage MS at the workplace were wearing appropriate clothing and getting more information about menopause. The actions that help improve the workplace to cope with MS were flexible working hours, better ventilation, air-conditioning, and temperature control, access to informal support at work, and administration awareness of menopause as a health problem. Conclusion: Working Saudi women have mild-moderate MS. The work environment at PNU had a minimum negative impact on MS.