Impact of menopause on quality of life in community-based women in China.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of menopause, age, and other factors on quality of life (QOL).

DESIGN: Generally healthy women aged 35 to 64 years were recruited from a general community in Beijing, People's Republic of China. An instrument including the Chinese version of the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire was used to obtain data.

RESULTS: A gradual decline of QOL was seen from pre- to peri- and postmenopausal women in the same age group. Statistically impaired QOL was associated with the peri- and postmenopausal women in vasomotor and physical domains but only with the postmenopausal women in psychosocial and sexual domains. Early postmenopausal women presented the worse QOL in vasomotor, psychosocial and physical domains. The gradually declining sexual QOL was related to the advance of menopause. Age had a negative impact on QOL in vasomotor and sexual domains. Women who assessed their own health as common (fair) or weak (poor) reported worse QOL than those who decribed themselves as healthy. Women with a higher body mass index reported more vasomotor symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS: Menopause might have a negative impact on QOL independent of age in community-based women in China. There seemed to be a potential model of the relationship of menopause status to change in QOL, but this needs supporting evidence from longitudinal studies. The association of QOL with age and other factors also should be considered.