Association between anxiety and severe quality-of-life impairment in postmenopausal women: Analysis of a multicenter Latin American cross-sectional study

• Main Authors: Núñez Pizarro, Jorge L., González Luna, Alejandro, Mezones Holguín, Edward, Blümel, Juan E., Barón, Germán, Bencosme, Ascanio, Benítez, Zully, Bravo, Luz M., Calle, Andrés, Flores, Daniel, Espinoza, María T., Gómez, Gustavo, Hernández Bueno, José A., Martino, Mabel, Lima, Selva, Monterrosa, Alvaro, Mostajo, Desiree, Ojeda, Eliana, Onatra, William, Sánchez, Hugo, Tserotas, Konstantinos, Vallejo, María S., Witis, Silvina, Zúñiga, María C., Chedraui, Peter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. 2017
• Subjects: Anxie; Climateric; Latin America; Menopause; Quality of life; Symptoms
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/620969; http://repositorioacademico.upc.edu.pe/upc/handle/10757/620969

Objective: To evaluate associations between anxiety and severe impairment of quality of life (QoL) in Latin American postmenopausal women. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a multicenter cross-sectional study among postmenopausal women aged 40 to 59 from 11 Latin American countries. We evaluated anxiety (The Goldberg Depression and Anxiety Scale), and QoL (Menopause Rating Scale [MRS]), and included sociodemographic, clinical, lifestyle, and anthropometric variables in the analysis. Poisson family generalized linear models with robust standard errors were used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% CIs. There were two adjusted models: a statistical model that included variables associated with the outcomes in bivariate analyses, and an epidemiologic model that included potentially confounding variables from literature review. Results: Data from 3,503 women were included; 61.9% had anxiety (Goldberg). Severe QoL impairment (total MRS score >=17) was present in 13.7% of women, as well as severe symptoms (MRS subscales): urogenital (25.5%), psychological (18.5%), and somatic (4.5%). Anxiety was independently associated with severe QoL impairment and severe symptoms in the epidemiological (MRS total score: PR 3.6, 95% CI, 2.6-5.0; somatic: 5.1, 95% CI, 2.6-10.1; psychological: 2.8, 95% CI, 2.2-3.6; and urogenital: 1.4, 95% CI, 1.2-1.6) and the statistical model (MRS total score: PR 3.5, 95% CI, 2.6-4.9; somatic: 5.0, 95% CI, 2.5-9.9; psychological: 2.9, 95% CI, 2.2-3.7; and urogenital: 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2-1.6). Conclusions: In this postmenopausal Latin American sample, anxiety was independently associated with severe QoL impairment. Hence, screening for anxiety in this population is important.