A cross-sectional study of symptoms and health-related quality of life in menopausal-aged women in China

OBJECTIVE: To measure symptoms and health-related quality of life in a cross-sectional cohort of menopausal-aged women in China. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a general population cohort of 2,000 Chinese females over the age of 45 years. Patients completed the Chinese version of the EuroQol-5D five level (EQ5D5L) health-related quality of life instrument via Personal Digital Assistant. Raw scores were converted to utility tariffs using value sets for China. Statistical analysis included Pearson’s chi-square test, z test for multiple comparisons with adjustment by the Bonferroni method, independent-sample t-test, ANOVA, and adjustment by the Tukey method for multiple comparison. Results were considered statistically significant when p < 0.05 and the study was reported according to the STROBE recommendations. RESULTS: In a cohort of 2000 women, 732 (37%) were premenopausal, 798 (40%) were perimenopausal and 470 (23%) were postmenopausal. Perimenopausal women reported significantly more symptoms (91%) compared to premenopausal (77%) and postmenopausal (81%) women. Health-related quality of life was significantly lower in symptomatic perimenopausal women compared to premenopausal (0.919, p < 0.05) and postmenopausal (0.877, p < 0.05) women. Within each group there was a statistically significant difference between the health-related quality of life of women with symptoms compared to without symptoms. CONCLUSION: The perimenopausal phase of menopause is associated with significantly more symptoms and significantly lower HRQoL compared to premenopausal and postmenopausal phases. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12905-023-02728-y.