Assessment of effect of menopause on oral health and its awareness in population visiting dental OPD: a hospital-based study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20232676Keywords:
Menopause, Postmenopausal, Sex hormone, Saliva, Awareness, Oral healthAbstract
Background: Menopause is a normal mechanism which takes part in every woman’s life. However, the awareness regarding menopause has to be highlighted effectively. Aim of this study was to assess the incidence and frequency of oral symptoms in postmenopausal women as well as to assess the level of awareness of menopause in women.
Methods: A hospital-based study using a 60-item questionnaire was conducted on postmenopausal women with age range of 35-70 years for a period of three months. Statistical analyses were performed. Results on continuous measurements were presented on Mean±SD. Descriptive statistics with frequency and percentage were computed.
Results: A total of 650 responses were received. In the present study, the mean age of menopause was 54 years. The most prevalent general symptoms reported were tiredness (89.8%), joint pains (89.7%) and irritability (76.5%). The most common oral manifestations of menopause were dryness of mouth (57.1%), altered taste (26.3%) and cracked corners of mouth (25.8%). About 39.8% of postmenopausal women had poor KAP score followed by 34.6% who had an average score while 18.3% had a good score and only 7.2% had scored excellent.
Conclusions: Our study showed that the occurrence of classical menopausal symptoms of sweating and hot flushes was lesser in comparison to previous studies on Asian women. The increased incidence of dry mouth could lead to a rise in oral diseases. Moreover, a majority of postmenopausal women had a poor KAP score which showed that the awareness towards menopause needs to be increased.
References
Research on the menopause in the 1990s. Report of a WHO Scientific Group. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 1996;866:1-107.
Mc Kinlay SM, Brambilla DJ, Posner JG. The normal menopause transition. Maturitas 1992;14(2):103-15.
Gold EB, Bromberg J, Crawford S, Samuels S, Greendale GA, Harlow SD, et al. Factors associated with age at natural menopause in a multiethnic sample of midlife women. Am J Epidemiol 2001;153(9):865-74.
World Bank. World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health. Volume 1. New York: Oxford University Press;1993.
Matthews KA. Myths and realities of the menopause. Psychosom Med.1992;54(1):1-9.
Brace M, McCauley E. Oestrogens and psychological well-being. Ann Med. 1997;29(4):283–90.
Thompson IO, van der Bijl P, van Wyk CW, van Eyk AD. A comparative light-microscopic, electron-microscopic and chemical study of human vaginal and buccal epithelium. Arch Oral Biol. 2001;46(12):1091-8.
Mascarenhas P, Gapski R, Al-Shammari K, Wang HL. Influence of sex hormones on the periodontium. J Clin Periodontol. 2003;30(8):671-81.
Friedlander AH. The physiology, medical management and oral implications of menopause. J Am Dent Assoc. 2002;133(1):73-81.
Brahmankar U. Taos of late 50: A review on postmenopausal oral discomfort in women. SRM J Res Dent Sci 2015;6:116-20.
LaRocco SA, Polit DF. Women’s knowledge about the menopause. Nurs Res 1980;29(1):10-3.
Thomas SE. Menopause knowledge and attitudes of English-speaking Caribbean women: implications for health education. Califor J Heal Promot. 2005;3(2):167-76.
Sajatovic M, Friedman SH, Schuermeyer IN, Safavi R, Ignacio RV, Hays RW, et al. Menopause knowledge and subjective experience among pre- and postmenopausal women with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and major depression. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2006;194(3):173-88.
Heinemann LA, Potthoff P, Schneider HP. International version of the menopause rating scale (MRS). Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2003;1:1-28.
Taga T, Ito K, Takamatsu K, Ogawa M, Funayama S, Inoue M. Menopausal symptoms are associated with oral sensory complaints in perimenopausal women: an observational study. BMC Womens Health. 2021;21(1):262.
Pathak V, Ahirwar N, Ghate S. Study to assess knowledge, attitude and practice regarding menopause among menopausal women attending outdoor in tertiary care centre. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2017;6(5):1848-53.
Ahuja M. Age of menopause and determinants of menopause age: A PAN India survey by IMS. J Midlife Health. 2016;7(3):126-31.
Khatoon F, Sinha P, Shahid S, Gupta U. Assessment of menopausal symptom using MRS in women of Northern India. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2018;7(3):947-51.
Senthilvel S, Vasudevan S, Anju PS, Sukumaran A, Sureshbabu J. Assessment of symptoms and quality of life among post-menopausal women in the tertiary care hospital in Kochi, South india: a hospital based descriptive study. J Mid Life Health, Wolters Kluwer-Medknow. 2018;9(4):185-90.
Rukmini J N, Sachan R, Sibi N, Meghana A, Malar CI. Effect of menopause on saliva and dental health. J Int Soc Prevent Communit Dent. 2018;8(6):529-33.
Mahesh DR, Komali G, Jyanathi K, Dinesh D, Saikavitha TV, Dinesh P. Evaluation of salivary flow rate, ph and buffer in pre, post and post menopausal women on HRT. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014;8(2):233–6.
Santosh P, Nidhi S, Sumita K, Farzan R, Bharati D, Ashok K. Oral findings in postmenopausal women attending dental hospital in Western part of India. J Clin Exp Dent. 2013;5(1):e8-e12.
Loutfy F, Aziz A, Dabbous NI, Hassan MHA. Women’s perception and experience of menopause: A community based study in Alexandria, Egypt. East Mediterr Health J. 2006;12 Suppl 2:593-606.
Nusrat N, Nishat Z, Gulfareen H, Aftab M. Knowledge, attitude and experience of menopause. J Ayub Med Cell Abbottabad. 2008;20(1):56-9.
Beura S, Patnaik L, Sahu M. Menopausal Symptoms: A Comparative Study among Rural and Urban Women of Eastern India. Natl J Community Med. 2021;12(11):374-79.
Akhtar N, Bala K, Gupta RK. Attitudes towards menopause and its relationship with sociodemographic factors among postmenopausal women living in a rural area of Jammu: a cross-sectional study. Int J Commu Med Publ Heal. 2020;7(1):177-82.
Osarenren N, Ubangha M, Nwadinigwe I, Ogunleye T. Attitudes of women to menopause: implications for counselling. Edo J Counsell. 2010;2(2):155-64.
