ABSTRACT

Background: Postmenopause is regarded as acritical stage of women’s lives. Thus, it is of utmost importance to pay much attention to women’s health status during this period. Accordingly, this study was to evaluate the severity of menopause symptoms and their relationship with general health status and social support in postmenopausal women.

Methods: This correlational-analytic study wasconducted on a total number of 200 postmenopausal women aged 45-60 yearsliving in the city of Sari, Iran, in 2018-2019. The data collection instruments consisted of Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), Medical Outcomes Study- Social Support Survey (MOS-SS), and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The data were also analyzed using SPSS, version 21.

Results: The mean age of menopause was 47.91. The results also showed that the correlation between general health status, social support,and severity of menopause symptoms was significant at the error level of 0.05 using the Wald Chi-squared test (p<0.05). Besides, in the final model presented, all path coefficients were significant, and there was direct relationship betweensocialsupport and severity of menopause symptoms considering the mediating role of general health status.

Conclusion: It was concluded that promoting social support through increased general health status could reduce menopause symptoms in postmenopausal women.

Keywords: Social Support, General Health, Menopause Symptoms, Postmenopausal Women