Quality of life impairment during the female menopausal transition is related to personal and partner factors.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the female quality of life (QoL) during the menopausal transition and determine factors (personal and partner) related to its impairment. The frequency of menopausal symptoms was also assessed.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, healthy women aged 40-59 years were asked to fill out the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) and a questionnaire assessing personal and partner demographic data.

RESULTS

During the study period, a total of 409 women were surveyed. Mean age was 47 +/- 5.3 years (median 46). Mean educational level was 13.2 +/- 4.1 years (median 14), with 28.1% having 12 or less years of schooling; premenopausal (42.1%), perimenopausal (24.4%) and postmenopausal (33.5%). At the time of the survey, 9.8% were receiving hormonal therapy (HT) for the menopause, 1.5% were on psychotropic drugs and 1.2% on alternative treatments for the menopausal. Regarding partner profile, 10.3% had erectile dysfunction, 11.2% had precocious ejaculation and 7.3% had abused alcohol. Mean total MRS score was 9.1 +/- 6.4 (median 9); for the somatic subscale, 4 +/- 2.7; the psychological subscale, 3 +/- 2.8 and the urogenital subscale, 2.1 +/- 2.5. Of the surveyed women, 50.6% presented a total MRS scoring of 9 or more (moderate to severe intensity). The four most frequently found symptoms of those composing the MRS were hot flushes (68.9%), sleeping problems (68.4%), depressive mood (55.2%) and irritability (51.6%). After adjusting for confounding factors, logistic regression analysis determined that female age, menopause and partner precocious ejaculation increased the risk for presenting higher total MRS scores (impaired female QoL) whereas HT use, church assistance and partner faithfulness decreased this risk.

CONCLUSIONS

A high rate of middle-aged women in this series presented impaired QoL associated to female age and hormonal status and additionally to partner's health and sexual behavior.