Quality of life among menopausal women

Abstract

Background: The transition through menopause is a life event that can profoundly affect quality of life. More than 80% of women report physical and psychological symptoms that commonly accompany menopause, with varying degree of severity and life disruption. The aim of this study was to assess the menopausal related symptoms and their impact on the women’s quality of life. Research questions: Are the menopausal symptoms impacts on the women’s quality of life? Methods: A descriptive design was used. A convenient sample composed of 90 women at range of age between 40-60 years was recruited from gynecological department. An interviewing sheet was designed by the researchers and menopause specific quality of life questionnaire were used to collect the data. Results: The present study showed that the most severe symptoms of vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual domains were, hot flushes (29%), experiencing poor memory (48.3%), being dissatisfied with their personal life (44.8%), Low backache (41.9%), and change in sexual desire (36.8%). The overall scores of menopausal quality of life for each domain are indicated that the highest mean score in sexual domain (3.19 ± 1.99), followed by psychosocial (2.94 ± 1.45).   Conclusions: It can be concluded that the most severe symptoms of vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual domains were, hot flushes, poor memory, dissatisfaction with personal life, low backache, and change in  sexual desire. While the mean scores of each domain suggest that menopausal symptoms were associated with decrease in women quality of life.