Menopause-Specific Quality of Life among Emirati Women.

Linda Smail,Anam Shakil,Ghufran Jassim

doi:10.3390/ijerph17010040

Abstract

To investigate the quality of life (QOL) of menopausal Emirati women aged 40–64 years and determine its relationship with their sociodemographic characteristics. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 70 Emirati women using multistage stratified clustered random sampling. The participants were interviewed face-to-face using a structured questionnaire comprising sociodemographic variables, reproductive characteristics, and the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire. The most common symptom among the study participants was ‘aching in the muscles’. The participants had a moderate level of bothersome symptoms; in addition, vasomotor symptoms were reported by 61%, while sexual symptoms were only reported by one-third of the participants. There were no significant differences between the menopausal status in any of the four domains of the MENQOL questionnaire. Additionally, there were no significant differences between the mean scores of the four MENQOL domains and all predictors. This study highlights the importance of educating women about menopause and its symptoms.

Highlights

Menopause is a transitional process experienced by over 500 million women between the ages of 45 and 55 years each year worldwide [1]
No significant differences in the mean scores on the four Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) domains for each of the predictor variables were observed
While the sample size is relatively small and cannot not be considered fully representative of all menopausal Emirati women, the results provide insights and a better understanding of the quality of life (QOL) of Emirati women and related factors

Summary

Introduction

Menopause is a transitional process experienced by over 500 million women between the ages of 45 and 55 years each year worldwide [1]. Menopause refers to the time when a woman’s menstrual period stops for 12 consecutive months after the last period and is characterized by ovarian failure, leading to a decline in the production of the ovarian hormones estrogen and progesterone. The lack of these hormones makes women prone to experiencing common symptoms that include, but are not limited to, sleep disorders, mood alterations, hot flashes, depression, urinary tract infections, vaginal infections, and increased risk for osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases.

Results

Discussion

Conclusion