"The Relationship between Sleep Quality and Menopausal Symptoms among Postmenopausal Women in Saudi Arabia"

Objectives: To assess sleep quality and examine its relationship with menopausal symptoms among Saudi postmenopausal women.

Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study of 410 postmenopausal women, aged 50-60 years, visiting Prince Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Hospital, Maternity and Children Hospital, and primary health care clinics, Sakaka, Jouf, Saudi Arabia. The menopause rating scale (MRS) was used to assess menopause symptoms and severity, while the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality.

Results: The participants’ age was 53.04±4.15 years, their mean age at natural menopause was 49.14±3.07, and the meantime since their menopause was 6.50±3.84 years. The PSQI total mean score was 6.10±4.17, classified into good versus poor sleepers; 65.4% scored ≤5, and 34.6% scored >5. The Mann-Whitney analysis revealed that somatic and urogenital symptoms, and total MRS score were associated with poor sleep quality (p<0.001).
Conclusion: The study findings revealed that more than one-third of Saudi postmenopausal women had poor sleep quality.