Quality of life in postmenopausal women in Tehran

Menopausal symptoms in women lead to decreased quality of life. Understanding this natural process in a woman's life during is important in effective control of their problems during this period. The purpose of this study was to determine the four (vasomotor, mental-social, physical and sexual) dimensions of quality of life of postmenopausal women in Tehran in 2007. In this descriptive-analytical study, sample size was determined by using the formula for estimating the proportion of a phenomenon and 700 postmenopausal women randomly selected in Tehran. The data gathering tool was Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL). Data were analyzed in SPSS14 by using descriptive tests (such as mean, standard deviation, frequency, relative frequency) and analytical test (Chi- square) at the 0.05 significance level. Quality of Life of women under study was moderate. The highest mean score was related to physical dimension (23.97±3.09) and the lowest mean score was related to vasomotor dimension (3.29±.84). A significant correlations between their quality of life and their occupation (p=0.04) and income (p=0.009) were also seen. It means postmenopausal women housewives and women with higher income had better quality of life to enjoy. The quality of life is not desirable in these women. Developing some interventions to improve their quality of life is necessary.