The impact of menopause education on quality of life among menopausal women: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Abstract

A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted to establish the impact of menopause health education on quality of life (QoL) among menopausal women. Research suggests that specific educational programs can support and enable women during the physical and emotional transition through menopause. The CINAHL, Medline, APA, Embase and Google Scholar databases were searched between 30 November 2021 and 9 January 2022 using the PRISMA guidelines. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to critically evaluate the included studies. Review Manager software was used to conduct the meta-analysis of suitable studies. Eight papers were eligible for this review. The participants were aged between 40 and 60 years, with diagnosis of menopause stemming from changes in the menstrual cycle to a last menstrual period of 7 years. Follow-up data were collected between 1 and 4 months post education. Meta-analysis of both the primary outcome (QoL) and secondary outcome (symptom control) demonstrated statistically significant improvements post intervention. Papers not suitable for meta-analysis were reviewed narratively; two papers assessing the primary outcome (QoL) demonstrated an improvement, but only one to a statistically significant level. Secondary outcomes revealed improvements, with all bar one paper doing so to statistical significance. Menopause health education demonstrated an improvement in both QoL and symptom control in menopausal women; however, given some weaknesses in the included studies, further research is justified. Limitations include participants’ level of education, geographical location, risk of bias, that only half of the papers addressed participant use of hormone replacement therapy and length of follow-up.

摘要

本研究采用荟萃分析的方法, 旨在探讨更年期健康教育对绝经期女性生活质量的影响。研究表明, 特定的教育可以支持和帮助女性度过更年期的身体和情绪变化。根据PRiSMA指南检索2021年11月30日至2022年1月9日期间的CiNAHL、Medline、APA、embase和Google Scholar数据库。使用Cochrane偏倚风险工具对纳入的研究进行评价。使用Review Manager软件对合适的研究进行荟萃分析。共纳入8篇符合本综述条件的论文。参与者的年龄在40到60岁之间, 因月经周期改变确诊更年期, 最后一次月经为7年前。在健康教育后的1到4个月收集随访数据。主要结局(生活质量)和次要结局(症状控制)的荟萃分析显示, 干预后的改善具有统计学意义。对不适合进行荟萃分析的论文进行叙述性综述；两篇评估主要结局的论文显示了生活质量的改善, 但只有一篇论文具有统计学意义。评估次要结局的论文也显示了症状的改善, 除一篇论文外, 所有论文均有统计学意义。绝经期健康教育对绝经期女性的生活质量和症状控制均有改善；然而, 考虑到纳入研究的一些缺点, 仍需要进一步研究。本研究的局限性包括受试者的教育水平、地理位置、偏倚风险, 只有一半的论文涉及受试者使用激素替代疗法和随访时间。

Keywords:

• Menopause
• education
• quality of life
• menopause symptoms
• systematic review

Potential conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Source of funding

Nil.