Effects of socio-demographic, personality and medical factors on quality of life of postmenopausal women

Numerous studies show that changes occurring in a woman’s organism during menopause may lower her quality of life. This study involved 630 healthy postmenopausal women from Poland. Its purpose was to assess their quality of life in relation to socio-demographic variables, medical data and personality profiles. The authors used the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to assess quality of life, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory to measure personality traits, and the Blatt-Kupperman Menopausal Index to estimate severity of climacteric symptoms. The study demonstrated significant relationships between quality of life and variables such as: age, education, employment status, and the use of menopausal hormone therapy. An analysis of personality traits revealed correlations between the openness to experience scores and the quality of life within physical functioning, vitality, and mental health. Neuroticism, agreeableness and extroversion significantly correlated with all quality of life domains. Conclusions: (1) Age, education and employment status have significant effects on the selected quality of life domains after menopause. (2) Quality of life within the general health domain was assessed lower by MHT-users (Menopausal hormone theraphy (MHT)). (3) Health-related quality of life is also influenced by personality traits, which are relatively stable throughout life.