Quality of life among menopausal women: A community-based study in a rural area of West Bengal

INTRODUCTION: During menopausal transition, there is a lot of fluctuation in the hormone levels making the peri and postmenopausal women susceptible to various mental and physical disorders. There is considerably lack of awareness about the effects of the menopausal symptoms in women in India. Studies on issues relating to menopause, especially among rural women, are also lacking. With this background, the current study was carried out in a rural area of West Bengal with the objective to assess the quality of life (QOL) of peri-menopausal women. METHODOLOGY: The study was carried out among 100 peri and postmenopausal women (40–60 years) in Dearah village of West Bengal which is the rural field practice area of All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health during February–March 2014. The questionnaire used as study tool had two parts - Part 1: Sociodemographic characteristics. Part 2: About QOL due to menopausal symptoms based on four domains (vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual) using the 29-item Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire. RESULTS: Occurrence of vasomotor symptoms was average with 60% of them reporting hot flushes and 47% sweating. Most prevalent psychosocial symptoms reported were feeling of anxiety and nervousness (94%) and overall depression (88%). Physical symptoms were quite varying in occurrence with some symptoms such as feeling tired or worn out, decrease in physical strength and lack of energy occurring in 93% of the women to only 5% suffering from growth of facial hair. Overall sexual changes were reported among 49% who reported of avoiding intimacy with a partner and 26% complained of vaginal dryness. CONCLUSIONS: The results support that menopause causes both physical and psychiatric problems. Education, creating awareness and providing suitable intervention to improve their QOL are important which should be imparted to menopausal women at both individual and community level.