Effect of group education and person-centered support in primary health care on mental health and quality of life in women aged 45–60 years with symptoms commonly associated with stress: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Mental illness and somatic symptoms are common causes of long-term sick leave for women during menopause, which usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55. Many women experience a lack of knowledge about menopause and its associated symptoms. This study evaluates the effect of group education and person-centered individual support in primary health care (PHC) on mental health and quality of life for women in menopause with symptoms that are usually associated with stress. METHODS: The randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) with a two-factor design was conducted in PHC in southwestern Sweden, from 2018 to 2019. A total of 370 women aged 45–60 were allocated in four groups: 1, group education (GE) 2, GE and person-centered individual support (PCS) 3, PCS and 4, control group. GE comprised four weekly sessions and PCS included five sessions with topics related to menopause. The effect of the interventions were followed up at 6 and 12 months. Linear and ordinal regression were used to analyse the effect of the intervention, either group education or person-centred individual support. RESULTS: The main findings: Improved quality of life and physical, psychological, and urogenital symptoms. GE and PCS resulted in improvement of the quality of life at six months. At the 12-month follow-up these results were significantly strengthened for PCS and improved health-related quality of life, and reduced mental, urogenital, and stress-related symptoms with an effect lasting at least 12 months. These results suggest that this intervention could be an effective intervention in PHC for improving women’s health in menopause. CONCLUSIONS: PCS can be an effective intervention in PHC for improving women’s health in menopause and possibly also prevent the development of exhaustion syndrome. Trial registration: Universal trial number is U1111-1219-6542 and the registration number in ClinicalTrials.gov is NCT03663075, date of registration 10/09/2018. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12905-023-02221-6.