Backgraound: Regarding to the increasing number of postmenopausal women in the world as well as increased life expectancy about 75 years old and respecting to the various complications due to menopause specially early menopause and on the other hand important role of women in family, this study was conducted to determine the incidence of age of menopausal women living in Tehran in 2005. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1500 women between 45 and 55 years, living in any of 22 different districts of Tehran, using a multi-stages sampling method in 100 blocks, were randomly selected. Inclusion criteria consist of living in Tehran for at least 10 years, lack of any operation on one or both ovaries or hysterectomy, lacking the history of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, mental disorders, hospitalization, and hormonal drugs. Data were collected by a questionnaire completed through interview. Content and test-retest methods were used for validity and reliability of the tools, respectively. Demographic data and age of menopause were estimated in samples and community. Factors associated with menopause age were evaluated by SPSS software. T-test, ANOVA and chi-square test were used for data analysis. Results: The results showed the mean age of 49.4±3.4, age at menarche of 13.5±1.6, marital age of 18.9±4.7, primiparous age of 20.6±4.7, the history of lactation of 65.5%, history of taking oral contraceptives of 44.5%, being married of 87.8% and familial history of early menopause of 13.1%. The age of postmenopausal women was 47.13±3.9 years (95%CI: 46.8-50.2 years). The effective factors on menopausal age included smoking, low level of education in the subjects and their spouses, high number of children, long-term consumption of oral contraceptives, ownership of residence, familial history of early menopause. Conclusion: The age of menopause in Iranian women is lower than women from developed counties. Regarding to the limited and controversial knowledge about the related factors with menopausal age, further researches are recommended. Keywords: Age of menopause, Effective factors, Menopausal women.

Keywords: Age of menopause, Effective factors, Menopausal women.

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