Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of menopausal symptoms and menopausal symptom severity on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), work impairment, healthcare utilization, and costs. Methods: Data from the 2005 United States National Health and Wellness Survey were used, with only women 40-64 years without a history of cancer included in the analyses (N = 8,811). Women who reported experiencing menopausal symptoms (n = 4,116) were compared with women not experiencing menopausal symptoms (n = 4,695) on HRQoL, work impairment, and healthcare utilization using regression modeling (and controlling for demographics and health characteristic differences). Additionally, individual menopausal symptoms were used as predictors of outcomes in a separate set of regression models. Results: The mean age of women in the analysis was 49.8 years (standard deviation, -5.9). Women experiencing menopausal symptoms reported significantly lower levels of HRQoL and significantly higher work impairment, and healthcare utilization than women without menopausal symptoms. Depression, anxiety, and joint stiffness were symptoms with the strongest associations with health outcomes. Conclusions: Menopausal symptoms can be a significant humanistic and economic burden on women in middle age.
Background There has been limited research addressing the effects of constipation on work productivity and healthcare resource use. Aims To assess the effect of chronic constipation on health outcomes and healthcare resource use. Methods Using data from the 2007 National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS), chronic constipation patients (n = 1,430) were propensity score-matched to controls (n = 1,430) on demographic and clinical characteristics. Differences between groups in health-related quality of life (SF-12v2), work productivity and activity impairment, and resource use in the last 6 months were examined. Mediation analyses were conducted in order to determine whether the relationship between constipation and resource use was caused by a reduction in health status.
The results of this study suggest that HCV can be a substantial burden on patients in terms of quality of life in both physical and mental health measures. In addition, HCV can be a significant cost driver in terms of health-care use and lost productivity.
In postmenopausal women, a greater severity of VMS is significantly associated with lower levels of health status and work productivity, and greater healthcare resource use.
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