A comparison of quality of life and resilience in menopausal women with and without a history of gynaecological cancer

Background and objectives: Resilience is a dynamic process that implies positive adaptation to adversity, and it is tested in stressful situations. In this study we compared resilience and menopause-related quality of life in women with and without a history of gynaecological cancer. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 293 participants, all of them menopausal women: 80 cancer survivors and 213 without a history of cancer. Participants completed the 14-item Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (WYRS-14) and the 16-item short form Cervantes (Cervantes-SF-16) questionnaire (on which a lower score indicates a higher menopause-related quality of life), and sociodemographic data were collected. Results: Resilience was significantly higher in the cancer survivors than in the menopausal women without a history of cancer: their total WYRS-14 scores were 86 points [72.25-90.00] and 80 points [69.80-88], respectively. Quality of life for cancer survivors was significantly worse than for women without a history of cancer: their total Cervantes-SF-16 scores were 45.01 [27.19-58.34] and 32.37 [20.00-44.80], respectively. Among the cancer survivors, women with a high resilience score had a better quality of life than those with a low resilience score: the groups' respective scores on the Cervantes-SF-16 total score were 35.98 [25.84-53.00] and 64.59 [51.81-76.68]. Conclusions: A history of cancer significantly affected women's menopause-related quality of life. Cancer had an impact on resilience. Highly resilient menopausal women with a history of gynaecological cancer had a better menopause-related quality of life than less resilient women with a history of gynaecological cancer.