Quality of life and postmenopausal symptoms among women in a rural district of the capital city of Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
To determine menopause-related symptoms and quality of life in women aged 40-80 years living in a rural area of Turkey.


METHODS
A total of 338 women were evaluated in this cross-sectional study. As data sources we used a questionnaire that elicited information on the descriptive, fertility and menopausal characteristics of the women, the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36).


RESULTS
The mean age at menopause was 46.5 +/- 0.4 years. The complaint stated most often as 'severe or very severe' was 'hot flushes and sweating' (50.7%). The physical functioning, physical role, bodily pain, general health, social functioning, emotional role and mental health scores of postmenopausal women were statistically higher (p < 0.05) than those of premenopausal women. Scores on physical function, physical role, general health and social function decreased significantly with age in postmenopausal women (p < 0.05), while none of the quality-of-life domain scores differed significantly with age in premenopausal women.


CONCLUSIONS
Quality of life is worse in postmenopausal women than premenopausal women, and in older than younger women in the postmenopausal period. Thus rural populations are primarily in need of public health care in the postmenopausal period.
Budakoğlu
Işil Irem
II
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey. iremb@baskent.edu.tr
Ozcan
Cihangir
C
Eroğlu
Derya
D
Yanik
Filiz
F
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000208:ethnology / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012424:Rural Population; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014421:Turkey