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Learning Objective 1: understand the relationship between menopause symptoms and quality of life
Learning Objective 2: gain the information about commonly reported menopause symptoms among a sample of Taiwanese women 45 to 60 years of age
The SF-36 is a QOL measure which includes 36 items to represent 8 QOL aspects: physical functioning, role limitation due to physical health problems, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role limitation due to emotional problems, and mental health. The Greene Climacteric Scale, which includes 21 items, was used to measure psychological menopause symptoms and physiological menopause symptoms (physical, vasomotor and sexual functions). Information about LUTS such as urinary incontinence, increased daytime urinary frequency, urgency, nocturia, intermittent stream, hesitancy, a feeling of incomplete emptying, weak urinary stream and urinary tract infections was collected because LUTS were often reported by menopausal women.
Feeling tired or lacking in energy, loss of interest in sex, muscle and joint pains and difficulty in sleeping/concentrating were the symptoms frequently reported by the participants in this study. Among the 138 women, 113 (81.9%) experienced at least one type of LUTS. Menopause symptoms were significantly related to women's QOL. Women with severer psychological, physical, vasomotor, sexual and lower urinary tract symptoms reported lower QOL scores at the 8 aspects. The results of this study contribute to the knowledge about menopause symptoms among Taiwanese women and may lead to appropriate strategies to manage these symptoms which can improve women's QOL.