Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women in Iran: A Population-based Study

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Menopause can have psychological, physical, and vasomotor symptoms along with sexual dysfunction and these symptoms can affect the quality of life (QOL). The purpose of this research was to determine and association the effective factors on QOL among postmenopausal Iranian women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 on 300 postmenopausal women in Hamadan, Iran. We used the Menopause-Specific QOL questionnaire (MENQOL) for measuring QOL in postmenopausal women. SPSS version 16 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean scores of QOL for vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual domains were 11.65 ± 5.93, 19.36 ± 1.20, 39.12 ± 1.95 and 11.02 ± 5.66, respectively. Higher scores had worse QOL. Using MENQOL scores, our study showed significant differences in QOL based on age, education level, financial status, number of children, employment, and body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSION: Menopause causes a decrease in QOL, which is dependent to age, work, BMI, financial status and number of children variables. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective intervention programs to improve QOL in postmenopausal women.