Symptom Reporting Around the Menopause in Beirut, Lebanon

Objectives: to assess the extent to which women in Beirut suffer from symptoms in the course of the menopause transition, and to measure the medical management of menopause.

Methods: a survey was carried out on a representative sample of 298 women; the questionnaire collected information on respondents' sociodemographic characteristics, life circumstances, general health, and reproductive health; it also included a symptom checklist, questions on the management of menopausal symptoms, and lifestyle questions.

Results: the article documents the frequencies of various symptoms associated with aging and menopause; the number of symptoms reported by respondents is negatively associated with employment, but other associations with sociodemographic variables are not significant; smoking is found to be high in the study population and is associated with the occurrence of hot flashes, but its association with other menopausal symptoms is not significant; over a third of the women seek help in dealing with the symptoms they experience, 15% use hormone replacement therapy, and 20% use calcium supplements.