Quality of Life Among Post-Menopausal Women Residing in Selected Ward of Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City, Nepal

Abstract

Background: Menopause is a critical period in a woman’s life that not only marks the end of reproductive ability but is also associated with multiple vasomotor, psychological, physical and sexual complaints. So, the study of Quality of Life in the post-menopause has become an essential component in clinical practices. The objective of this research was to assess the quality of life among post-menopausal women. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 102 women of Itahari Sub- Metropolitan city. Probability sampling technique was used to select the ward and non-probability purposive sampling technique was used for the selection of sample. Data was collected through face-to-face interview using a structured Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, median and interquartile range) and (Man Whitney U test) for inferential statistics were applied using SPSS Version 25 for data analysis. Result: The study showed that the most common symptom reported by the respondents was feeling tired (98.04%) and the least frequent symptom was increase in facial hair (11.76%). The median scores and interquartile range of MENQOL for vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual domains were 4(3,4), 12.50(10,15), 31(28,38) and 5(3,6) respectively. The significant difference was seen in vasomotor domain with marital status and occupation, psychosocial domain with age and marital status and sexual domain with occupation respectively. Conclusion: In this study, the most frequent reported symptom was feeling tired and the most affected domain was physical domain. The vasomotor domain has statistically significant difference with marital status and occupation, psychosocial domain has statistically significant difference with age and marital status and sexual domain has significant difference with occupation respectively. Hence, effective awareness and education programme regarding the symptoms and ways to minimize those symptoms should be planned and provided both at individual and community levels