Quality of Life among Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis in Southern India: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Osteoporosis is characterised by reduced bone mass and structural destruction of bone tissue which increases the brittleness of bone that leads to increased fracture risk. It is very common among postmenopausal women. Since osteoporosis is closely related to oestrogen deficiency, postmenopausal women are predisposed to it. The decrease in oestrogen during the menopausal transition period causes more bone resorption than formation, resulting in osteoporosis. Aim: To assess the quality of life of among the postmenopausal osteoporotic women without fracture and to find out the association of quality of life with selected demographic variables. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional was conducted at the Osteoporosis Clinic of Orthopaedic Outpatient Department of Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Manipal, India, between June 2019 and September 2021, after obtaining the permission from concerned authorities. The sample was 120 postmenopausal osteoporotic women who belong to the age group 45-65 years. Postmenopausal women with uncomplicated osteoporosis without fractures were included in the study. The independent variable was of quality of life of the postmenopausal women and the dependent variables were the age, religion education occupation, and Bone Mineral Density (BMD). After obtaining the informed consent, the participants were interviewed using Short Form-36 (SF-36) quality of life questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 36 items and eight subscales which are summarised in two domains: Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS). The statistical analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22.0. The collected data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical measures. One way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Pearson correlation coefficient test was used to find out the association. Results: The mean±Standard Deviation (SD) age of the participants was 56.8±2.5 years, 99 (87.5%) participants were Hindus and n=52 (56.25) belonged to general category. Higher proportions of the women were housewives i.e., n=85 (68.75%). Higher scores show a better quality of life. The results of this study showed that participants scored less (29.99±9.56) in role limitations due to emotional problems. Also, the participants scored less (43.39±4.57) in the domain of MCS in comparison to PCS (47.78±4.53). Further, association of PCS and MCS scores of quality of life were tested (p-value<0.05) with selected demographic variables such as age, religion, education, occupation and BMD. The results showed that there was no significant association found between PCS scores and age (p-value=0.84), religion (p-value=0.94), occupation (p-value=0.805) and BMD (r= -0.058, p-value >0.05). Also, there was no significant association between MCS scores and age (p-value=0.69), religion (p-value=0.86), occupation (p-value=0.70) and BMD (r-value=-0.0604, p-value >0.05). Conclusion: The participants scored less in the subscale of role limitations due to emotional problems of the SF36 questionnaire. The quality of life was less in the mental component subscore. This indicated that osteoporosis make the postmenopausal women anxious and affects their daily activities.