A cross-sectional study on the renal dysfunction in post-menopausal women of Enugu metropolis, Nigeria

Objective: Menopause is the end of a woman's menstrual cycle and fertility. This leads to some hormonal changes which influences metabolic processes and affect many organs of the body including the kidney. Determination of electrolytes, urea and creatinine are biomarkers for renal function. This study assessed the electrolytes, urea and creatinine levels of post-menopausal women living in Enugu metropolis.

Methods: A total of 60 women were recruited for this cross sectional study with 30 post- menopausal women (aged 45-65 years) as test subjects and 30 premenopausal women (aged 20-40 years) as control subjects. The height, weight, waist circumference were measured and body mass index (BMI) calculated, two readings of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were taken and average recorded. 5mls of blood was collected for the assessment of electrolytes, urea and creatinine by colorimetric methods using cobas c 111 auto analyzer. Data obtained was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 25 and results expressed as mean and standard deviation.

Results: The results  shows a significant (p<0.05) increase in the mean ± standard deviation of SBP (129.43 ± 5.38, 112.67 ± 4.44), DBP (91.03 ± 4.64, 74.57 ± 5.02), WC (90.83 ± 7.14, 73.96 ± 8.33), BMI (28.21 ± 3.56, 24.65 ± 5.39), age (58.80 ± 5.28, 24.93 ± 2.90), Sodium (144.08 ± 2.10, 139.10 ± 2.05), Bicarbonate (25.38 ± 2.06, 23.79 ± 1.41), Urea (4.78 ± 0.78, 2.09 ± 0.28),Creatinine ( 88.30 ± 23.35, 62.74 ± 8.05) and a decrease in Potassium (3.95 ± 0.30, 4.75 ± 0.50) among the test and control subjects respectively.

Conclusion: This study concludes that post-menopause predisposes a woman to higher blood pressure, WC, BMI, urea, creatinine levels and electrolytes imbalance which might lead to renal dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases.