Quality of Life of Menopausal Women

OBJECTIVES: The symptoms caused by hormonal changes during menopause affect women's quality of life. We aimed to analyze the quality of life of menopausal women.

METHODS: A cross-sectional, retrospective study was conducted in Zala County, Hungary between January 1 and December 31, 2022. Non-random, accidental sampling was used to select women between 45 and 65 years of age, who shows at least one symptom of menopause, or experienced a change in QoL in last year (n=108). We excluded those who submitted standard the standard questionnaires incompletely. Data were collected with self-administered (sociodemographic data, health status and QoL factors) and standard questionnaires (MENQOL, Beck's Depression Inventory). Descriptive statistics, χ²-test, correlation and regression analysis, two samples t-test was calculated with Microsoft Excel (p<0.05).

RESULTS: Mean age of respondents were 53±5.28 years. Mild symptoms were detected in four dimensions of MENQOL. Most participants were either obese (38.89%) or overweight (26.85%), while only 4.63% suffers from mild depression. No significant differences were found between type of residence and MENQOL scores; age and vasomotor symptoms; educational level and sexual dysfunction; physical activity and severity of depression; or sexual dysfunction and BMI (p>0.05). 62.04% of women [CI=52.88-71.19] prefer hormone-free products, 4.63% hormone therapy [CI=0.67-8.59], 33.33% neither [CI=24.44-42.22].

CONCLUSIONS: Women have a positive perception of menopause. Regular exercise, a Mediterranean diet, deepening social relationships and the involvement of professionals can improve women's QoL. It is worth continuing the research in the future in the hope of further results.