Menopause-specific quality of life of a group of urban women, West Bengal, India

Objective To find out the association of menopause-specific quality of life of women with menopausal status. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we involved 250 Bengali-speaking women of Hindu ethnic group (118 perimenopausal and 132 postmenopausal), aged 40-65 years from urban areas of North 24 Paraganas, a district of West Bengal, India. The Menopause-Specific Quality of Life questionnaire (MENQOL) consisting of 29 menopausal symptoms, grouped under four menopausal domains (vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual), was used to assess menopause-specific quality of life. Scores of four menopausal domains generated a composite score of 'Quality of Life'. Additionally, participants were also interviewed for their socio-demographic characteristics. Results Bivariate analyses showed significant difference in all the domains of menopause-specific quality of life (barring vasomotor domain) when compared for menopausal status. Results of ANCOVA showed that menopausal status was significantly associated only with the physical domain after removing the effects of sociodemographic characteristics. Conclusion Menopausal status had a significant association with the physical domain of menopause-specific quality of life of women.