First Consensus Meeting on Menopause in the East Asian Region

Menopause - Vietnam - Country-specific information

Duong Thi Cuong
Institute for the Protection of the Mother and Newborn, Hanoi, Vietnam

1. Demography

The census data of 1 April 1989: 64.4 million (13th most populous nation in the world)

Population in 1996 75,260,000

  Male 36,727,000

  Female 38,533,000

Crude birth rate 25.3 /1000

Crude death rate 6.7 /1000

Annual growth rate 1.9%

Urban population 20% in 1989

Rural population 80%

male:female sex ratio male:female 95:100

Age structure

  Under age 15 39%

  Over age 65 5%

Marriage

  (Ever) married

  at age 25–29: males 76%

females 82%

Mean age at marriage

  Males 24.5

  Females 23.2

Total fertility rate 3,3

2. Mortality and health

Infant mortality rate 44 /1000

Under five mortality rate 55.4/1000

Births without prenatal care 43.4%

Contraceptive prevalence rate 53.18%

Maternal mortality rate 1.1 /1000

Mortality rate of perinatal disease 40/1000

3. Percent distribution of women by selected characteristics (1994)

Residence

- Urban 21.18%

- Rural 78.82%

Education

- No schooling 8.61%

- Some primary school 19.69%

- Primary school 23.53%

- Lower secondary school 35.15%

- Secondary and higher school 13.03%

Occupation

- White-collar work 5.46%

- Agriculture 58.23%

- Non-agriculture 22.62%

- Not working 13.69%

4. Menopause in Vietnam

Age at menopause is the same as in the rest of Asia, from 49 to 50 years. In contrast to menarche, which commences earlier nowadays (age 11–12), the age of menopause in Vietnam has not changed for hundreds of years.

Menopause in Vietnamese women is associated with fewer and less severe symptoms than in Western countries.

Prevalence of menopausal disorders

- Urban area 25%

- Rural area 10%

Among which complaints of

- Hot flushes 52%

- Vaginal atrophy and dyspareunia 60%

Treatment

- Management at menopause: integrated in GYN clinic

- No treatment 80%

- Tranquillizers 5%

- HRT 15%

(combined oral contraceptives, vaginal estrogen)

- low-dose continuous oestrogen therapy is especially used by younger women with bilateral oophorectomies

- No data about menopause and osteoporosis, hip fracture, breast and endometrial cancer.