Dr Dypti Lulla1, Ms Shirley Kwok2, Dr Jean Jasmin Lee1, A/Prof Seng Bin Ang1, A/Prof Rukshini Puvanendran1
1KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, 2Duke NUS Medical School, Singapore
Biography:
A Family Physician by training, Dr Dypti Lulla is passionate about improving health awareness in her patients and aims to provide holistic medical and psychosocial care to her patients. Her clinical and research focus is on women's health, specifically around menopause, osteoporosis, obesity and chronic disease management. She is also actively involved in quality improvement initiatives to improve patient safety, convenience and manage transitions of care at her hospital.
Abstract:
Aims:
Menopause symptoms and experience vary considerably, in severity, types of symptoms and in disruption in lifestyle. Prior studies in Asian populations have demonstrated lower incidence of hot flushes compared to Caucasian women and commonly reported muscle and joint aches. However, these studies are either conducted on clinic patients or focused on postmenopausal women. Our study aims to identify common menopause symptoms amongst perimenopausal women in Singapore.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study to explore the symptoms surrounding menopause in the general female population aged 41-60 years in Singapore. 309 participants were recruited from public health forums and through social media advertisements between October 2023 to October 2024. Participants completed an online questionnaire providing their sociodemographic information, and symptoms of menopause using Menopause Rating Scale.
Results:
81 percent of participants experienced at least one moderate to severe symptom of menopause. The most common symptoms were sleep problems and joint and muscular discomfort, followed by physical and mental exhaustion and hot flushes and sweating. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that symptoms vary with stage of menopause status, with highest prevalence of symptoms in women with menstrual changes.
Conclusion:
This community-based study highlights the symptoms experienced by women transitioning to menopause.