Prevalence and influencing factors of perimenopausal syndrome among 40 – 55 years old clinical nurse practitioners engaged in clinical practice in a major hospital

Objective To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of perimenopausal syndrome (MPS) among nurse practitioners aged 40 – 55 years and engaged in clinical practice in a major hospital and to provide references for developing relevant intervention measures.

Methods Using cluster sampling, we conducted a questionnaire survey among 809 female nurse practitioners at ages of 40 – 55 years and engaged in clinical practice in a major tertiary hospital in Shenyang city of Liaoning province from August to December 2018.

Results Among the 775 nurses with valid information, 589 were assessed as MPS and the prevalence of MPS was 76.00%. Of all the respondents having MPS, 51.61% (304), 44.31% (261) and 4.08% (24) reported symptoms of mild, moderate and severe MPS, respectively. For all the respondents, the top five MPS symptoms were mood fluctuation, muscle and joint pain, hot flashes, sweating, fatigue and insomnia, which were reported by 509 (65.68%), 483 (62.32%), 477 (61.55%), 451 (57.09%) and 426 (54.97%) of the respondents. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that aged ≥ 46 years, engaged in nursing practice 20 years and more, working in departments with high occupational risk, involved in shift work, and having abnormal menstruation were risk factors for MPS among the respondents.

Conclusion The prevalence of MPS is high among nurse practitioners aged 40 – 55 years and engaged in clinical practice in a major hospital, especially among those at elder age, with more years of nursing practice, working in departments with high occupational risk, involved in shift work, and having abnormal menstruation.