Quality of life and climacteric complaints amongst women seeking medical advice in Taiwan: assessment using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire

Abstract

Objective: To determine the impact of the climacteric transition on health-related quality of life amongst women, between the ages of 45 and 55 years, seeking medical advice in Taiwan.

Method: A total of 203 women seeking medical advice (SMA) were drawn from a special integrated clinic, with a further 349 healthy referents of the same age, range and gender, with no history of hormone replacement therapy and living in the same municipality, also being recruited from a national health survey sample for comparison. Each one was asked to fill out the brief questionnaire of the Taiwan version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF), assessing quality of life on 26 items in four domains (physical, psychological, social and environmental). SMA subjects were also questioned about the 21 most frequent symptoms. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to control variables such as age, marital status, religion and educational attainment.

Results: The mean scores for the physical, psychological and social domains were significantly lower than those of the healthy referents, as was the overall quality of life for SMA women. Although usual vasomotor symptoms did not significantly predict quality of life in the SMA subjects, after controlling for demographic factors, insomnia and emotional disturbance were found to be major determinants of the scores in the different domains.

Conclusion: Insomnia and emotional disturbance should be taken into consideration in the management of climacteric women seeking medical advice.