A Study To Assess The Relationship Between Menopausal Symptoms And Relative Fat Mass Index.

Abstract

Introduction: Menopause is a natural physiological phenomenon which involving the permanent end of menstrual cycle due to the non-pathological estrogen deficiency. Decreased estrogen level along with aging triggers the metabolic changes in the body that contributes more weight gain. Menopausal symptoms like Depression, anxiety, lack of mobility because of tiredness can also be contributing factors to weight gain for many women. Weight changes during menopause increases the risk of developing cardio vascular problems. The present study is aimed to assess the relationship between the Relative Fat Mass Index and menopausal symptoms among post-menopausal women. Methods: A descriptive correlational study was conducted among 120 post-menopausal women from selected village at Madurai. The non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select the study samples. The data collection was done for the period of four weeks, Green climacteric scale was used to assess the menopausal symptoms and the menopausal women body fat percentage was calculated by Relative Fat Mass Index formula RFM = 76 - 20 x (Height [cm]) / Waist Circumference [cm]). The collected data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The mean score of menopausal symptoms is 44.5 and Relative Fat mass Index mean score is 40.1 with the Standard Deviation of 6.1 and 6.3 the calculated Karl Pearson’s correlation co- efficient value r = 0.468 significant at p=0.0001 which shows there is a positive correlation between menopausal symptoms and Relative Fat Mass Index. demographic variables such as economic status (χ2=8.869, p=0.031) Religion (χ2=20.705, p=0.0001) Marital status (χ2=7.581, p=0.023) Availability of social support ( χ2=9.444, p=0.024 ) Habit of practicing the exercise (χ2=12.704 ,p=0.005) has significant association with menopausal symptom , diet pattern (χ2=16.972, p=0.002) has significant association with Relative Fat Mass Index score Discussion: The result suggested that the Relative Fat mass index is clearly related to menopausal symptoms. The menopause increasing the risk of adiposity and contributes to adipose tissue accumulation in the waist area which increase the menopausal symptoms and Risk of developing non communicable diseases among post-menopausal women.