Life satisfaction and morbidity among postmenopausal women

Abstract

Objective: To investigate associations between morbidity and global life satisfaction in postmenopausal women taking into account type and number of diseases. Materials and Methods: A total of 11,084 women (age range 57-66 years) from a population-based cohort of Finnish women (OSTPRE Study) responded to a postal enquiry in 1999. Life satisfaction was measured with a 4-item scale. Self-reported diseases diagnosed by a physician and categorized according to ICD-10 main classes were used as a measure of morbidity. Enquiry data on health and lifestyle were used as covariates in the multivariate logistic models. Results: Morbidity was strongly associated with life dissatisfaction. Every additional disease increased the risk of life dissatisfaction by 21.1% (p