Background: Menopause, a significant and unavoidable change of the normal female biological process, has attracted science’s attention since ancient times. In recent decades, women claim the right to social production and better quality of their remaining life. The aim of this descriptive, comparative and prospective study was to investigate the demographic characteristics and the quality-of-life of Greek postmenopausal women who were taking Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT) compared with those not taking. Method and Material: The sample consisted of 216 postmenopausal women aged 40 to 60 years old who were divided into two groups and evaluated at the beginning of the research, as well as six months later, in a period of 19 months. The MHT group consisted of 100 women who were taking MHT and the non-MHT group consisted of 116 women who were not. A questionnaire for demographic data was used, as well the Greene Climacteric Scale (GC) and the Menopause-Specific Quality-of-life Questionnaire (MENQOL). Results: 46.3% of women were taking MHT, while the 53.7% were not. By comparing the two groups, it became apparent that the MHT group of women were more likely to have grown up in an urban area (p = 0.04), to have higher education (p <0.001), to have jobs of demanding responsibility (p = 0.008) and to have lower body weight (p=0.002). The non-MHT group was found to have statistically significant more severe symptoms in the GC scale from the MHT group in both assessments (p<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that factors of the model explain 49.4% of the GC scale. Evaluating the quality-of-life using the MENQOL questionnaire, a statistically significant difference was found in both assessments (p<0.001), with the non-MHT group showing a lower quality-of-life compared to the MHT group, in both assessments. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the factors of the model explain 54.8% of the MENQOL, meaning that women with higher education have a better quality-of-life compared with the non-MHT group. In correlating the two scales with the Pearson coefficient, it was found a statistically significant positive correlation (r=0.845 and p<0.001). Conclusions: MHT seems to provide significant benefit in improving quality-of-life during menopause. However, the administration of this treatment should always be individualized and used with caution. The nurse’s advisory role is of high value to the women’s decision-making on MHT.
(EN)
Research article
(EN)
Health Science Journal
(EN)
Medical and Health Sciences ▶ Health Sciences Nursing
(EN)
