Purpose: To evaluate factors associated with mental health quality of life (QOL), such as depressed mood, anxiety, poor memory and sleep, among midlife women according to the menopausal status.
Material and methods: Participants were 500 women aged 40-65 years. Data were collected using socio-demographic questionnaire, Women's Health Questionnaire (domains of depressed mood-DEP, anxiety-ANX, memory-MEM and sleep-SLE) and Short Form-36 (Mental Composite Score) for assessment of health-related QOL. Factors associated with poorer DEP, ANX, MEM and SLE were examined using adjusted linear regression models.
Results: In premenopausal women, lower household monthly income (p = .046) was associated with higher level of DEP; higher body mass index (p = .045) was associated with higher ANX; having gynecological illnesses (p = .017) and menopause-related symptoms (p = .039) were associated with poorer MEM; being married (p = .036), drinking alcohol (p = .036) and having more physical activity (p = .041) was associated with better SLE. In postmenopausal women, worse DEP was more likely among women residing in city outskirts (p = .009), who are not married (p = .038) and with sedentary occupations (p = .049); lower education level (p = .030) was associated with more ANX; lower education level (p = .045) and having menopause-related symptoms (p = .044) were associated with poorer MEM; not engaging in regular recreation (p = .031) was associated with better SLE.
Conclusions: To improve QOL, pre- and postmenopausal women should not only be supported in the management of menopause-specific symptoms. Women should also receive recommendations as to the behavioral and personal changes when approaching the midlife period.
Keywords: Depression; anxiety; memory; menopause; sleep.