Abstract:
Background: Menopause is a natural phenomenon experienced by women with different
menopause-related discomforts. These discomforts lead to impairment of menopausal specific
quality of life (MENQOL) that can be identified in four main domains: vasomotor,
psychosocial, physical, and sexual.
Objectives: To assess the MENQOL and socio-demographic and gynaecologic factors
associated with MENQOL among postmenopausal women (PMW).
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done with 202 PMW in the Kotapola medical
officer of health (MOH) area, Matara district. PMW who menopause naturally were selected
with multi-stage cluster sampling. The data were collected using an interviewer administered
questionnaires containing sociodemographic and gynaecologic information, and validated
MENQOL questionnaire.
Results: A majority of the participants (52.0%) were within the 50-60 age group. A majority
experienced night sweat as the predominant menopausal symptom (n=141; 69.8%). The mean
total MENQOL was 3.36 (±0.49). The highest impaired MENQOL was observed in the physical
domain (2.02±0.32). The majority (71.8%) of PMW had low MENQOL, while 25.2% and 3.5%
of PMW had moderate and high levels of MENQOL, respectively. Among the
sociodemographic factors, only occupational status (p=0.01) was associated with MENQOL.
Age of menarche (p<0.001), duration of menstruation period (p=0.002), had period of scanty
bleeding (p<0.001), irregular menstruation (p=0.001), menopause age (p=0.001), number of
children (p=0.015) and breast-feeding duration (p<0.001) had significant associations with
MENQOL among the gynaecologic factors.
Conclusions: Majority of PMW experienced low levels of MENQOL associated with
occupational status, age of menarche, duration of menstruation period, menopausal age, number
of children, and breast-feeding duration. MENQOL and associated factors provide clues for
strategies for improving MENQOL in PMW.
