The impact of COVID-19 and self-care on the quality of life of postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND

Demographic, social, and self-care factors can significantly impact the quality of life of menopausal women. Self-care abilities are regarded as pivotal mechanisms for enhancing quality of life and reducing substantial healthcare costs for elderly individuals. The present study investigated the impact of COVID-19 and self-care on the quality of life of postmenopausal women.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

This cross-sectional study involved 174 menopausal women who visited healthcare centers in Bojnurd, Iran, in 2023, using a two-stage (stratified and cluster) sampling approach. The inclusion criteria for sampling were as follows: 1 year or more since the last menstrual period, natural menopause, age 45 to 65 years, literacy, and no history of mental illness or psychiatric drug use in the past 6 months. The research tools included a self-designed demographic-social questionnaire, a self-care questionnaire tailored for Iranian menopausal women, and a menopause-specific quality-of-life questionnaire (MENQOL). After completing the questionnaires, data analysis was performed with a significance level of 0.05 using descriptive and inferential statistical methods.

RESULTS

The mean age at menopause was 49.69 years, with a standard deviation of 3.51 years. Most participants were married, had no university education, or were homemakers. Self-care had a statistically significant relationship with quality of life (P < 0.001). Also, a significant inverse relationship was observed between self-care and quality of life (P = 0.001). With the exception of spouse's occupation, no statistically significant relationships were detected between demographic variables, quality of life, or self-care and history of COVID-19 infection.

CONCLUSION

According to obtained results, there was a relationship between self-care and quality of life in menopause women. Higher education and employment among menopausal women are associated with improved quality of life. It is recommended that studies with a larger sample size be conducted in order to be more generalizable.