Evaluation of Sexual Function and Quality of Life in Menopausal Transition and Menopause in a Cohort of Turkish Women

Objective: To evaluate sexual function and quality of life in a Turkish cohort of women in menopausal transition and menopausal women with various causes of menopause. Material and Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 300 Turkish women with spontaneous menopause (n=150), induced menopause (n=50), premature menopause (n=50) and at menopausal transition (n=50). World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire (WHOQOL-bref) and Glombok Rust Inventory of Sexual satisfaction were used. Results: Overall sexual dysfunction ranged between 60% to 78% among different groups (p=0.1). Women with premature menopause had the lowest score in the psychological health domain of WHOQOL-bref (p=0.02). Time elapsed since marriage, vasomotor symptoms and presence of sexual dysfunction in GRISS subscales were all negatively correlated with the quality of life scores. Logistic regression analysis revealed that induced menopause increased anorgasmia while hormone therapy and every increase in education years decreased the risk. Presence of vasomotor symptoms and long time elapsed after marriage in years increased the risk of non-communication. Spontaneous, induced and premature menopause increased the risk of infrequency. Conclusion: A high rate of sexual dysfunction was noted in this Turkish cohort. Sexual dysfunction was negatively correlated with quality of life scores. Our study provides evidence to multifaceted nature of sexual dysfunction in perimenopausal women including many variables other than menopause and its consequences.