Mental health aspect of quality of life in the menopausal transition.

Purpose: To evaluate factors associated with mental health quality of life (QOL), such as depressed mood, anxiety, poor memory and sleep, among midlife women according to the menopausal status.

Material And Methods: Participants were 500 women aged 40-65 years. Data were collected using socio-demographic questionnaire, Women's Health Questionnaire (domains of depressed mood-DEP, anxiety-ANX, memory-MEM and sleep-SLE) and Short Form-36 (Mental Composite Score) for assessment of health-related QOL. Factors associated with poorer DEP, ANX, MEM and SLE were examined using adjusted linear regression models.

Results: In premenopausal women, lower household monthly income ( = .046) was associated with higher level of DEP; higher body mass index ( = .045) was associated with higher ANX; having gynecological illnesses ( = .017) and menopause-related symptoms ( = .039) were associated with poorer MEM; being married ( = .036), drinking alcohol ( = .036) and having more physical activity ( = .041) was associated with better SLE. In postmenopausal women, worse DEP was more likely among women residing in city outskirts ( = .009), who are not married ( = .038) and with sedentary occupations ( = .049); lower education level ( = .030) was associated with more ANX; lower education level ( = .045) and having menopause-related symptoms ( = .044) were associated with poorer MEM; not engaging in regular recreation ( = .031) was associated with better SLE.

Conclusions: To improve QOL, pre- and postmenopausal women should not only be supported in the management of menopause-specific symptoms. Women should also receive recommendations as to the behavioral and personal changes when approaching the midlife period.