Quality Of Life (QOL) Among Postmenopausal (PMS) Women in Mohammadpur Geneva CAMP (MGC), Dhaka, Bangladesh: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Menopausal symptoms can significantly impact women's quality of life (QoL). Objectives: This study aimed to assess the presence and severity of menopausal symptoms and identify factors related to QoL among postmenopausal (PMS) women. Methods: A purposive sample of 1200 PMS women, aged between 45 and 75 years with an average age of 54.46 (± 7.29) years, who experienced menopause at an average age of 46.29 (± 4.49) years and were at least two years PMS, were surveyed using a cross-sectional design from November to March 2019. The sample size of 1,200 was calculated using a 52.2% estimated prevalence of sleep problems among Malaysian PMS women, with a 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error. An additional 10% was added to account for nonresponse, ensuring adequate statistical power and representativeness. We assessed menopausal symptoms by employing the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS). Multivariable regression examined the relationship between QoL and other variables. Statistical tests were considered significant at P-values ≤ 0.05. Results: About 73% of women experienced hot flushes, sweating, sexual problems (24%), palpitation (74%), sleep disorder (83%), bladder incontinence (45%), dryness of the vagina (16%), depressive mood (91%), and joint and muscular discomfort (96%) during the age of 45-59, 60-69, and 70+ years old, respectively. According to the time since menopause ≤ 4, 5 - 10, 11 - 15, and 16+, 78% suffered from hot flushes, sweating, 51% palpitation, 75% sleep disorder, 91% joint and muscular discomfort, and 81% depressive mood, respectively. In multivariable regression analysis, income and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) associated with the somatic score. Time since menopause, education, occupation, marital status, and blood pressure (BP) played a significant (P ≤ 0.05) role on the psychological and urogenital score. Conclusions: The most commonly reported symptoms in this study were hot flushes, sweating, palpitations, sleep disorders, and joint and muscular discomfort. Age, education, occupation, income, and marital status were significantly associated with the QoL among PMS Bihari women. This study has limitations regarding generalizability. Since it was conducted in a single refugee camp (MGC) in Dhaka, the findings may not reflect the experiences of PMS women in other camps or marginalized areas. Socio-cultural, economic, and environmental conditions in MGC may differ significantly from those in different settings across Bangladesh.