OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to use an instrument, the menopause-specific quality-of-life satisfaction questionnaire for the postmenopausal period, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). DESIGN: A cross-sectional descriptive study was used to generate menopause symptoms experienced by Arabian Gulf women. Measurement-specific quality-of-life satisfaction questionnaires were used and face-to-face interviews were performed. SETTING: The study was based in primary health-care clinics in Al Ain City, Sharjah and Dubai Emirates, UAE. SUBJECTS: A multistage sampling design was used, and a representative sample of 450 UAE females aged 45 years and above were included during January-April 1999. RESULTS: Of the 450 women living in both urban and rural areas, 390 women agreed to participate (86.7%) and responded to the study. The mean age and standard deviation (SD) of the subjects was 56.5 +/- 6.6 years, and the median age of natural menopause in the present study was 48 years (mean +/- SD 48.4 +/- 3.8). The rate of consanguinous marriages in the sample was found to be 47.2%. The most common disease was found to be diabetes mellitus (10.3%), followed by osteoarthritis (7.7%), hypertension (7.2%) and asthma (6.2%), but the majority of subjects (68.7%) had no specific disease. Out of 29 possible symptoms, the mean number of symptoms was 7.57 (range 0-24). The most frequent symptom was 'aches in the back of the neck or head' at 46.4% followed by 'aches in the muscles/joints' at 34.6%. The least reported symptom was 'facial hair' at 15.9%. Increasing education resulted in more symptoms reported, and increasing parity resulted in fewer symptoms reported. In the present study, it was found that employed women experienced more symptoms and disorders. Of the total sample, 28.5% of the subjects reported no symptoms. In the four domains, 69% reported physical symptoms, 58.7% reported psychosocial symptoms, 40% reported vasomotor symptoms and 37.9% reported sexual symptoms. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient indicated that there is highly statistically significant concordance between the four domains (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The present study showed that menopause-related symptoms in UAE women are fewer and of less severity than in Western women. The postmenopausal women, despite a continued decline in estrogen levels, reported few symptoms as part of a normal life stage, suggesting that they were able to cope with stress.