Menopausal Symptoms and Its Correlates: A Study on Tribe and Caste Population of East India

Abstract

Present study aimed to compare the incidence of menopausal problems and concomitants between tribe and caste population. This cross section study was conducted in five villages of West Bengal, a state in the eastern part of India. This study was conducted between two different ethnic groups—one of the “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTG)” of India named as “Lodha” and the other was a Bengali speaking caste population. A total number of 313 participants were finally recruited for this study. Study participants were married, had at least one child, had no major gynaecological problems, and had stopped menstrual bleeding spontaneously for at least 1 year. Additionally, data on sociodemographic status and menstrual and reproductive history were collected using a pretested questionnaire/schedule. Bivariate analyses (chi square test) revealed that significantly more number of caste participants suffered from urinary problems than their tribe counterpart. The reverse trend has been noticed for the frequency of vaginal problems. Multivariate analyses (binary logistic regression) show that sociodemographic variables and menstrual and reproductive history of the present study participants seem to be the concomitants of menopausal symptoms. Tribe and caste study population significantly differed with respect to the estrogen deficient menopausal problems and the concomitants to these problems.