Assessment on severity of menopausal symptom and effectiveness of interventional package on quality of life among perimenopausal women

Introduction: Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that by 2030, millions of women will be either premenopausal or postmenopausal, highlighting the need for early identification and effective management of symptoms among menopausal women to improve quality of life. Aim: To assess the severity of menopausal symptoms and the effectiveness of an interventional package. Objectives: To assess the severity of perimenopausal symptoms and evaluate the effectiveness of an interventional package on quality of life. Method: A quantitative approach and a two-group pre-test and post-test research design were adopted. A total of 120 perimenopausal women from a selected rural area of Karad Taluka were selected using purposive sampling and randomly allocated into study and control groups by the lottery method. Six Primary Health Centres and nine villages were selected using the lottery technique. The study group received a structured interventional package comprising a seven-day menopausal diet plan and stretching and strengthening exercises using a Theraband belt, while the participants in the control group received routine care without intervention. Menopausal symptoms were assessed at baseline and at follow-up one, three, and six months post-intervention using the Menopausal Rating Scale and the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) scale was used to assess quality of life. Results: At the first visit, women aged 40–42 years in the study group demonstrated a higher baseline severity of perimenopausal symptoms compared to the control group, with a predominance of moderate symptoms across most domains. In the study group, hot flushes (52.7%), sleep problems (61.8%), mood swings (65.4%), irritability (52.7%), anxiety (50.9%), and physical and mental exhaustion (38.1%) were largely reported as moderate, with some severe irritability (20%). In contrast, the control group showed a greater proportion of mild symptoms, particularly for hot flushes (44.6%), heart discomfort (30.7%), sleep problems (47.6%), mood swings (49.2%), irritability (52.3%), and anxiety (50.7%), indicating comparatively lower initial severity. By the fourth visit, a marked improvement was observed in the study group following the intervention; women reported mild or no symptoms across psychological, somatic, and urogenital domains. Hot flushes were predominantly mild, and joint and muscular discomfort was mostly mild or absent. The control group continued to experience moderate to severe menopausal symptoms at the fourth visit. Women reported moderate to severe hot flushes (96.8%), sleep problems (89.1%), mood swings (89.1%), irritability (92.2%), anxiety (86.1%), physical and mental exhaustion (58.4%), sexual problems (32.2% moderate to severe), vaginal dryness (66.1% mild to moderate), and joint and muscular discomfort (50.7% moderate to severe).