Noreh J, Sekadde-Kigondu C, Karanja J G, Thagana N G
Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.
East Afr Med J. 1997 Oct;74(10):634-8.
This was a cross sectional descriptive study to discuss the median age of menopause in a rural area of Western Kenya. The broad objective of the study was to describe the demographic and biophysical characteristics of the study population and determine the age of menopause. A review of the current and medieval records shows average age of menopause has remained relatively constant at 50 years in contrast to the receeding age of menarche. A total of 1078 women aged between 40-60 years were interviewed. The majority (98.8%) were from one ethnic group, the Luhya. Of the 1078 women, 880 (81.4%) were married and 198 (18.6%) were single. The average number of children per woman was 7.74. Most of the women (75.1%) had attained primary school education. Their husbands were unskilled workers in 30.1% of the cases. The mean weight and height of the women was 60.74 kg and 161.1 cm respectively. Using methods of probit analysis, the median and modal age of menopause was found to be 48.28 years in this group of western Kenya women. If generalised for the whole country, these results suggest that an average Kenyan woman lives for over ten years beyond menopause. It is recommended that more attention should be given to the special health problems of postmenopausal population.
这是一项横断面描述性研究，旨在探讨肯尼亚西部农村地区的绝经中位年龄。该研究的主要目标是描述研究人群的人口统计学和生物物理学特征，并确定绝经年龄。对当前和中世纪记录的回顾显示，与初潮年龄的下降相反，绝经平均年龄一直相对稳定在50岁。总共对1078名年龄在40至60岁之间的女性进行了访谈。大多数（98.8%）来自一个民族，即卢希亚族。在这1078名女性中，880名（81.4%）已婚，198名（18.6%）单身。每名女性的平均子女数为7.74个。大多数女性（75.1%）接受过小学教育。在30.1%的情况下，她们的丈夫是非技术工人。这些女性的平均体重和身高分别为60.74千克和161.1厘米。使用概率分析方法，在这群肯尼亚西部女性中，绝经的中位年龄和众数年龄为48.28岁。如果推广到整个国家，这些结果表明，肯尼亚女性平均在绝经后还能活十多年。建议更多关注绝经后人群的特殊健康问题。
