Age at menopause and health at midlife: an urban Indian experience

Purabi Pathak, University Of Pune
Amrita Bagga, Prof. & Former Head of the Dept. of Anthropology, University of Pune, India

Age at menopause has been documented to be lower in India as compared to some of the more developed countries. The purpose of the present study is to explore the variations in age at menopause among urban women of different ethnic and racial backgrounds, to investigate various symptoms of menopause and to find out impact of early menopause on general health of women. Respondents for the current study were selected randomly from the state of Assam and are in the age group of 40-55 years. Results of the study suggests that age at menopause in urban Assam is lower than the average Indian age at menopause. Age at menopause was found to be significantly low among those who had surgical/artificial menopause, among SC/ST/OBC communities, those who had early menarche, lower parity, and are unemployed. There is also large variation in reported discomforts and health problems among these groups of women.