Self‐rated menopausal status and quality of life in women aged 40‐63 years

Abstract

Objectives. To determine whether quality of life (QOL) changes during the menopause as a function of menopausal status and other medical and lifestyle variables. Design. A postal questionnaire sent to three different samples of women. Method. A total of 1188 questionnaires were received from (a) two samples recruited from two Family Health Service Association (FHSA) lists and (b) one sample recruited through an advertisement in a women's magazine. The questionnaires consisted of (a) a seven domain, 48‐item, condition‐specific QOL questionnaire which was developed for this study (MQOL), (b) a single item global QOL questionnaire (GQOL), (c) questions about medical history, (d) questions about work status, (e) questions assessing menopausal status using two different techniques. Results. Both the MQOL and GQOL indicated a relationship with menopausal status. GQOL and MQOL showed a U‐shaped relationship with menopausal status, with lowest scoresassociated with the middle of the menopause. However, domain scores of Sleep and Energy failed to reach the levels reported by women who perceive themselves to be pre‐menopausal, and domain scores of Symptom Impact and Social Interaction indicate steady decline during the menopausal transition. Women who experienced the menopause long ago reported the highest GQOL, feelings and cognition domain scores. Medical history and work outside the home play an important role in determining MQOL‐womenwho had undergone hysterectomy, those who had tried but discontinued HRT while still in the middle of the climacteric, and those with greater co‐morbidity had poorer QOL. Those who worked outside the home reported better MQOL, and those recruited through the magazine reported poorer QOL. Conclusions. QOL is affected by the menopause, but the way it is affected depends on the measure of QOL used. QOL during the menopause is also affected by medical and lifestyle variables. QOL during the menopause is a complex interaction of several different kinds of variable.