Assessing the Prevalence of depression and its Relative Factors in the women in Different Stages of Menopause (Kermanshah, 2003)

Introduction: Menopause is one of the critical stages in women’s life that can influences their health in middle ages. Regarding the prevalence of depression as a psychologic problem in menopausal period and different reports about it and inattention to menopausal stages, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of depression and its relative factors in different stages of menopause in women residing in Kermanshah City.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 460 women aged between 40-60. Individual and social characteristics and their depression of women were assessed by Beck Depression Inventory Scale. Individual with BDI scores more than 16 considered as having clinical depression.

Results: The age of subjects was 47.3±5.9. 39% of subjects were perimenopause, 33% were postmenopause and 28% were perimenopause. 32.2% were depressed, and the most of prevalence of depression (39.3%) was seen in perimenopausal women and the least prevalence (21.6%) was seen in perimenopausal ones (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The prevalence of depression in middle age women in the perimenopausal period was more than other stages and most of the variables of menopause had significant correlation with depression. With respect to the results of this research, depression is an important problem in middle age women in this area and with regard to the effects of depression, researchers recommend an analytic study to determine the role of the most important factors and consequently an experimental study to reduce its prevalence.