Women's quality of life in the premenopausal and postmenopausal periods

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between menopausal symptoms and quality of life in women in the pre and postmenopausal periods. Methods and instruments: All 171 women in the climacteric period who registered at the Pamukkale University Education and Research Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic between January and July 2001 were included in the study. A questionnaire asking for sociodemographic information, complaints related to the climacteric period, and HRT use, as well as the WHOQOL brief, were used in order to obtain data. Findings: One hundred of the women who participated in the study were premenopausal and 71 were postmenopausal and the mean age was 47.39 (SD=6.65). No significant difference was found in pre and postmenopausal women in the comparison of their quality of physical life, psychological, social relationships and environment scores (p > 0.05). The physical quality of life scores for those without vasomotor complaints in the pre and postmenopausal periods were significantly higher in those with a high educational level and women who had been menopausal between 1-5 years and more than 10 years (p < 0.05). Age and HRT use in postmenopausal women were not found to affect quality of life scores (p > 0.05). Result: We did not find any significant difference in the quality of life of pre and postmenopausal women.