Menopausal symptoms and quality of life during the menopausal transition in Sri Lankan women

Objective: To assess the prevalence of menopausal symptoms in a population of Sri Lankan women and the relationship with their health-related quality of life. Design: A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted on 683 women ages 45 to 60 years living in the district of Colombo, Sri Lanka. A cluster sampling method was used for recruitment of the sample. Information was collected on demographic, socioeconomic, menstrual, and reproductive history using structured interviews. The Menopause Rating Scale was used to assess menopausal symptoms and the Short Form 36 health survey was used to assess the health-related quality of life. Results: Of the sample, 59.4% were postmenopausal and 18.4% were perimenopausal; 90% of the sample had one or more menopausal symptoms. The most prevalent menopausal symptoms were joint and muscular discomfort (74.7%), physical and mental exhaustion (53.9%), and hot flushes (39.1%). Hot flushes, sleep problems, and joint/muscular discomfort showed an increase in prevalence from the premenopausal category to the postmenopausal category (P < 0.05 for all). Chronic illness in the women was significantly associated with the presence of menopausal symptoms (P < 0.01). Women with menopausal symptoms had significantly lower (P < 0.05) quality-of-life scores in most of the domains of the Short Form 36 compared with women without symptoms. Conclusions: The majority of these Sri Lankan women reported one or more menopausal symptom. Chronic illness was significantly associated with these symptoms. The presence of menopausal symptoms was significantly associated with a decreased health-related quality of life in the women.