Satoh T, Ohashi K
Area of Nursing Science, Course of Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
Climacteric. 2005 Jun;8(2):146-53. doi: 10.1080/13697130500117961.
To determine the quality of life (QOL) of middle-aged Japanese healthy women during the menopausal transition, to identify the correlation between decreasing quality of life and the severity of menopausal symptoms in those women, and to evaluate the number of women who sought treatment/health-care support and their expectations for health-care services.
This was a community-based study, performed in collaboration with the Munakata Women's Midlife Health Project. The participants attended an annual medical check-up and cancer screenings, and led an everyday life without receiving medical treatment. Their quality of life was assessed with the World Health Organization QOL assessment (WHOQOL) and the severity of menopausal symptoms was assessed with the Kupperman index. Their expectations for health-care services were determined with an open-ended questionnaire.
The mean scores of the Kupperman index in the peri- and postmenopausal states were significantly higher than that in the premenopausal states, whereas there was no significant difference of quality of life scored by the WHOQOL in the three groups. In spite of recruiting healthy middle-aged women, 24.4% of the perimenopausal and 26.6% of the postmenopausal women suffered from moderate or severe menopausal symptoms. The decreasing level of quality of life was correlated with the severity of the menopausal symptoms in the peri- and postmenopausal women. The participants did not receive medical support except in two cases, but 83.0% of them wished to participate in a seminar concerning menopause. Several of them sought treatment, health-care support and advice on how to maintain their health during and after the menopausal transition.
Nearly one-quarter of Japanese community-dwelling, healthy women in the peri- and postmenopausal states suffered from menopausal symptoms, which decreased their quality of life in everyday life.
确定处于绝经过渡阶段的日本中年健康女性的生活质量（QOL），找出这些女性生活质量下降与绝经症状严重程度之间的相关性，并评估寻求治疗/医疗保健支持的女性人数及其对医疗保健服务的期望。
这是一项与宗像市女性中年健康项目合作开展的基于社区的研究。参与者参加年度体检和癌症筛查，且在未接受治疗的情况下过着日常生活。使用世界卫生组织生活质量评估（WHOQOL）对她们的生活质量进行评估，并用库珀曼指数评估绝经症状的严重程度。通过开放式问卷确定她们对医疗保健服务的期望。
围绝经期和绝经后状态下库珀曼指数的平均得分显著高于绝经前状态，而三组中WHOQOL所评估的生活质量没有显著差异。尽管招募的是健康的中年女性，但24.4%的围绝经期女性和26.6%的绝经后女性患有中度或重度绝经症状。围绝经期和绝经后女性生活质量的下降水平与绝经症状的严重程度相关。除两例情况外，参与者未接受医疗支持，但其中83.0%的人希望参加关于更年期的研讨会。她们中的一些人寻求治疗、医疗保健支持以及关于如何在绝经过渡期间及之后保持健康的建议。
近四分之一居住在日本社区的围绝经期和绝经后健康女性患有绝经症状，这降低了她们日常生活中的生活质量。
