Prevalence of Depression in Postmenopausal Women

Every woman during different stages of her growth faces various crises, and one of these crises, menopause, may create different problems. In modern societies, psychological disorders and particularly depression is one of the problems of menopausal women. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of depression in postmenopausal women referred to selected health centers of Ahvaz in 2014. This study was cross-sectional study. In this study, 1280 postmenopausal women aged between 40 and 65 years old who were referred to selected health centers of Ahvaz in 2014 were randomly enrolled. Hamilton depression scale and demographic questionnaire were used for gathering information. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics and analytical statistics (Independent t test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation and logistic regression) were carried out (CI 95%). The mean ± SD score of depression for the subjects was 9.37 ± 4.62. The results showed that 59.8% of the 1280 samples were depressed; in particular, 39.8% had mild depression, 16% moderate depression, and 4% severe depression. There is a significant and inverse relation between variables of age, exposure to cigarette smoking, and the relationship with their spouses and the level of their depression, so higher age, more exposure to smoking, and better relation with their husbands, lead to the less depression. The results showed that the level of education is associated with depression. The highest rate of depression was in illiterate women; the finding also showed that there is a relationship between income and the severity of depression (Regression Log). T test showed that the mean depression level of employed postmenopausal women is higher than housewives postmenopausal women, and this difference is statistically significant (P < 0.001). A significant percentage of women in their menopause experience depression. This depression can be associated with variables such as exposure to cigarette smoke, certain personal characteristics (e.g. relationship with spouse), and socioeconomic status (education, income).