Εμμηνόπαυση και ποιότητα ζωής

Abstract

Introduction: Menopause is an important time for women’s life. Given the prolongation in women’s life expectancy, women will spend a large period of their lives (about 30- 40%) in postmenopausal period. The lack of female hormones causes physical and psychological symptoms that affect, negatively, the quality of life. Vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats, sleep disturbances, sexual dysfunction and weight gain are physical common symptoms referred by women in menopause. The psychological symptoms include anxiety, depression and irritability. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the menopausal symptoms and to investigate their affect in women’s quality of life. Material and Method: The study sample consisted of 100 menopausal women aged 45-55 and of 101 non menopausal women, so that to do comparisons between the two groups. For data collection has been used an anonymous questionnaire that included the index DASS-21 that measures the depression, the anxious and the stress, the index MENQOL, that refers to menopausal symptoms and whether they affect the quality of life, the questionnaire Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, that measures the sleep dysfunctions, the questionnaire SF-12, that measures the quality of life, the index HFRS, that measures the frequency of flushing and their affect in the quality of woman’s life, the index FSFI, that measures the sexual dysfunction as well as sociodemographic questions. Data were analyzed using the statistic program SPSS 22.0. Results: The menopausal women had higher levels of anxiety, stress and depression compared to non menopausal women (P<0,001). The levels of poor sleep quality were higher in menopausal women (48,4%) compared to non menopausal women (18%) (P<0,001). Non menopausal women had better physical and mental health (P<0,001), higher sexual desire compared to menopausal women. The more physical and sexual menopausal symptoms women experienced in menopause, the worse their physical health was (P<0,001). The more psychosocial menopausal symptoms women had in menopause, the worse their mental health was (P<0,001). Discussions: The transition to menopause is associated with higher levels of anxious, stress, depression, poor sleep quality, sexual dysfunction, more psychosomatic symptoms that affect the quality of life of menopausal women compared to non menopausal women. Health providers must advice women and suggest treatments according to their health history and preferences. Change in lifestyle, health food and exercise can reduce the symptoms of menopause and improve quality of life of these women. Key-words: menopause, quality of life, vasomotor symptoms, sleep disturbances, depression, sexual dysfunction, hormonal therapy, alternative medicines, exercise