Prevalence of Depression among Postmenopausal Women in National Guard Primary Healthcare Centers, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Reports of prevalence rates of depression in postmenopause show inconsistent results, with some studies demonstrating an increase in depressive symptoms whereas others show a decrease or no difference. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and define some risk factors of depression in postmenopausal women aged 45-65 years in primary health care settings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted throughout the period June-August, 2018 at King Abdul Aziz Medical City-National Guard (KAMC-NG) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in three large primary care centers. It included a sample of postmenopausal women who completed at least 12 months of amenorrhea and aged between 45 and 65 years. The Arabic version of PHQ-9 was utilized to detect depression and Menopausal rating scale (MRS) was used to assess the severity of menopausal symptoms. Results: The study included 300 women. The prevalence of major depressive symptoms among them was 29%. More than half (60.7%) of the respondents had moderate social support, three quarters (75%) scored mild to severe symptoms on the menopausal rating scale while 25% were asymptomatic.Women who were: unmarried (84.2%), housewives (79.2%), illiterate (83.2%), menopaused since≥10 years (87.5%), having more than five children (81.4%), underwent oophorectomy (100%), with poor social support (93.9%) and never exercised (82.4%) were more likely to report mild to severe symptoms. Also, significantly higher percentages of participants who have hypertension (81.9%), diabetes (82.1%), Dyslipedemia (88.1%) and hypothyroidism (81.4 %) experienced mild to severe menopausal symptoms, p<0.05. The degree of severity on the PHQ has strong significant (P<0.001) correlation with marital status, employment status, educational level and income. Conclusion: Depression is a relatively common disorder among postmenopausal women in Riyadh. Some sociodemographic indicators were identified. Care should be paid to this important group and further larger studies are recommended.