Abstract: Objective To evaluate and compare the incidence of menopausal syndrome in pre-, peri- and post-menopausal women in rural areas, and to examine the association with neuroticism and mindfulness. Methods The Menopause Rating Scale(MRS), neuroticism subscale of TIPI-C, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale(MAAS)and the general questionnaire were used to investigate 836 middle-aged women in Shandong rural area. Results The incidence of menopausal syndrome in pre-, peri- and post-menopausal women was 54.1%, 65.2% and 70.9%, respectively. The score of menopausal syndrome in the above status was 6.56±5.72, 8.46±6.58 and 9.28±7.13, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that age(OR=1.051, 95%CI: 1.004-1.099), chronic diseases(OR=2.705, 95%CI:1.912-3.828), gynecologic diseases(OR=3.007, 95%CI: 1.953-4.631), and neuroticism(OR=1.204, 95%CI: 1.116-1.299)were risk factors of menopausal syndrome, while mindfulness(OR=0.941, 95%CI: 0.926-0.956)was the protective factor. Conclusion The incidence of menopausal syndrome is common in rural middle-aged women, which is the highest in post-menopausal women, followed by peri- and pre-menopausal women. Due attention should be paid to middle-aged women with high neuroticism, and improving the level of mindfulness may be an effective way to alleviate menopausal syndrome.

Key words: Middle-aged women, Menopausal syndrome, Menopausal transition, Neuroticism, Mindfulness