Quality of life among perimenopausal women aged 40 – 55 attending to patients: A cross sectional study at Kawempe National Referral Hospital.p

Abstract

Background: Experiencing menopausal symptoms had persistently remained a public health challenge through attributing to increased morbidity and less productivity among the perimenopausal women. Menopausal symptoms had affected the quality of life of women to the extent that perimenopausal women had had to seek for health care. Effective coping mechanisms and interventions should be implemented to improve the quality of life during perimenopause. In Uganda, determining the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and predictors affecting the quality of life was of great relevance to inform implementation of effective coping mechanisms and interventions. Objective: To determine the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and predictors affecting the quality of life among perimenopausal women aged 40 – 55 attending to patients at Kawempe National Referral Hospital. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted among 384 eligible perimenopausal women. Quality of life was measured using the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire. Pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data on sociodemographic, lifestyle and reproductive health characteristics among purposively selected participants. Information on the history of experiencing menopausal symptoms among perimenopausal women was obtained using the MENQOL questionnaire. Statistical analysis plan: Descriptive statistics for all categorical variables and continuous variables was presented. A conservative level of significance set at p<0.05 will be used for entering the independent variables into the regression model. Multi-collinearity was checked for by conducting a tolerance statistical test. Multiple linear regression model was constructed to identify predictors affecting the quality of life among perimenopausal women. Likelihood Ratio Test was used to assess the goodness fit of the model. Statistical significance was determined at p-value <0.05. Analysis was performed using STATA. Results: Most women aged 40-55 attending to patients at KNRH had significant menopausal symptoms and the most common were; anxiety (83.3%); avoiding intimacy (80.5%); low backache (79.2%); and hot flushes (76.6%). The least common were Increased facial hair (19.6%); Involuntary urination when laughing or coughing (22.7%); and weight gain (25.0%). The predictors of poor quality of life were; age (50-55); being single, being unemployed, having high blood pressure, and having bone and joint pains. Conclusion: The prevalence of menopausal symptoms among perimenopausal women aged 40-55 attending to patients at KNRH is high and so most women up to 50.5% had poor quality of life. Other contributing factors were socio-demographic factors, individual characteristics, exercise and Comorbid disease conditions.