Psychosocial adjustment in women with premature menopause: a cross-sectional survey

ABSTRACT

Objectives Previous studies have found that women with premature menopause often report fertility problems, menopause symptoms and negative experiences of medical services. This study aims to measure the prevalence of these problems and explore whether they have negative impacts on psychosocial adjustment (symptom experience and quality of life).

Methods A cross-sectional survey was mailed to women who had been diagnosed with premature menopause, recruited from hospital clinics in West London and from a patient support website (the Daisy Network). The survey measured participant characteristics, fertility problems, hot flushes and night sweats, experience of diagnosis, patient satisfaction with medical services, the Women's Health Questionnaire and the General Health Survey SF-36. Responses were described and multiple linear regressions were used to explore predictors of psychosocial functioning and quality of life.

Results A total of 136 women were included in the analysis. Psychosocial functioning was relatively poor compared to typical aged menopausal women. Fertility concerns were prevalent (reported by 71% of the sample), 35% reported experiencing hot flushes and/or nights sweats, and, on average, women were neither satisfied nor unsatisfied with medical services (mean =3.00, standard deviation =0.98). Age, experiencing hot flushes and/or night sweats and patient satisfaction predicted psychosocial functioning, but only explained a small amount of the variance (3–11%).

Conclusions Women with premature menopause would benefit from interventions that improve psychosocial functioning and quality of life, including improving patient experience and effective treatment of menopause symptoms. Assumptions about treatment needs could not reliably be made based on patient characteristics, suggesting that individually tailored treatments may be more effective.

Key words::

• PREMATURE MENOPAUSE
• PREMATURE OVARIAN FAILURE
• PRIMARY OVARIAN INSUFFICIENCY
• PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING
• QUALITY OF LIFE

Conflict of interest The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper

Source of funding Seedcorn funding: British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).