Menopause specific quality of life and correlated factors among Sri Lankan post-menopausal women

Introduction: During menopause declining ovarian function gives rise to menopausal symptoms. Menopause specific quality of life could be assessed based on the distress caused by menopausal symptoms.
Objectives: To describe menopause specific quality of life and correlated factors among post-menopausal women aged 45-55 years in Kalutara district, Sri Lanka.
Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in Kalutara district among 756 post-menopausal women using multistage stratified cluster sampling. Women were interviewed by trained data collectors using a structured questionnaire on socio-demographic, reproductive and lifestyle characteristics, and validated menopause specific quality of life questionnaire (MENQOL-S). Menopause specific quality of life of participants was categorized as ‘good’ and ‘poor’ based on median MENQOL score. Binary multiple logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify independent predictors of menopause specific quality of life.
Results: Mean age of participants was 52.1 years (SD=2.2). Of them 96.8% reported at least one menopausal symptom and mean MENQOL-S score was 70.2 (SD =31.7). Out of them 63.8% (n=483) had ‘poor’ menopause specific quality of life and this significantly correlated with; Sinhala ethnicity (adjusted OR=6.891, 95%CI=4.756-9.985), premenstrual syndrome (adjusted OR=2.893, 95%CI=1.750-4.782), poor perceived health (adjusted OR=3.670, 95%CI=1.695-7.946) and BMI >25 kgm-2 (adjusted OR=1.77, 95% CI=1.094-2.865).
Conclusions and recommendations: Majority of menopausal women aged 45-55 years living in Kalutara district had ‘poor’ menopause specific quality of life. Impact of menopause on quality of life and long-term health, should be taken into consideration when developing policies and planning healthcare programmes for women in this age group.