Climacteric women at work: What lurks behind poor occupational quality of life?

ABSTRACT

Physical and psychological changes during menopausal transition may affect various aspects of everyday functioning including women's work ability and work productivity. Presence of menopausal symptoms has been well-acknowledged to negatively affect quality of life (QOL). However, data on factors associated with occupational QOL among women at this period of life are lacking. The authors' purpose in this study was to evaluate factors affecting occupational QOL in a sample of employed mid-life women who are experiencing menopause. The authors performed a cross-sectional study among 335 employed women aged 40 to 65 years from Serbia. Socio-demographic questionnaire, Utian's Quality of Life Scale, and Beck's Depression Inventory were used in data collection. Women's average monthly household income and educational level were positively correlated, while having uterine prolapse was negatively associated with occupational QOL. Significant regression models assessing impact of gynecological illnesses and menopause-specific symptoms on occupational QOL (direct value and categories—below vs. above mean) showed that having insomnia, uterine prolapse, and genital inflammations may differentiate “good” from “poor” occupational QOL. Uterine prolapse, genital inflammation, and insomnia were associated with worse occupational QOL among working women in menopausal transition.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We sincerely appreciate Prof. Wulf Utian, MD, PhD for allowing us to adapt and use the original versions of the Utian Quality of Life Scale. The authors would like to express gratitude to the two Community Health Centers in Belgrade (“Vracar” and “Rakovica”) for allowing us to conduct this study using their patients and facilities. Finally, we would like to thank all participants for taking interest in our study.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received for this study. Tatjana Gazibara receives grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (grant no. 175087) for other projects.