Quality of life in overweight and obese postmenopausal women

Aim. To assess the quality of life, including sleep quality, and the severity of climacteric syndrome (CS) in overweight and obese women compared to women with normal body weight in the postmenopausal period. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study of 92 women aged 47–60 years was conducted. The general SF-36 questionnaire and a special Women's Health Questionnaire (WHQ) were used to study the level of quality of life. The presence of CS was assessed by calculating the modified menopausal index (MMI), the Green scale, and the visual analogue scale for hot flashes and hyperhidrosis. To assess sleep disorders, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the Subjective Sleep Characteristics Scoring Questionnaire were used. The main group consisted of overweight and obese women (n=58), the control group consisted of women with normal body weight (n=34). Results. Overweight and obese women, compared with women with normal body weight, had lower quality of life (SF-36) scores on the scales of physical functioning (p<0.001), pain intensity (p=0.028), general health (p=0.008) and vitality (p=0.003), as well as on the scales of the WHQ questionnaire: somatic symptoms, memory/attention and vasomotor symptoms. Women in the main group had more pronounced symptoms of CS than in the control group: 22 points versus 12, respectively, according to the results of the MMI (p<0.001), 21 points versus 7.5 on the Greene scale (p=0.008). Daytime sleepiness was 2 times more common in the main group than in the control group (35.2% vs 14.7%, p=0.049).The analysis of questionnaires for scoring subjective sleep characteristics did not reveal differences in the frequency of sleep disorders between the groups (42.6% vs 23.5%, p=0.068), however, lower scores were obtained in the main group compared with the control group (18.91±3.22 vs. 20.65±3.27, p=0.016). Conclusion. The obtained results should be taken into account for personalization of treatment of postmenopausal women with metabolic and endocrine disorders by both obstetricians-gynecologists and related specialists – general practitioners, endocrinologists.