Objective: Menopause is an important life event that has not yet been well characterized among women with severe mental illness. Our goal was to evaluate menopause-related quality of life among severely mentally ill women.
Method: We conducted a cross-sectional assessment of perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, ages 45-55, diagnosed with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, or major depression, who were receiving inpatient or outpatient psychiatric care. Women were compared regarding menopausal symptoms and quality of life using the Menopause Specific Quality of Life Scale (MENQOL).
Results: Women with severe mental illnesses who were peri- and post-menopausal experienced considerable vasomotor, physical, sexual, and psychosocial symptoms related to menopause. On seven of 29 MENQOL items, women with major depression reported problems significantly more often than women with other serious mental illnesses.
Conclusions: This preliminary study indicates that psychiatrists and other physicians should consider the frequency and overlap of menopausal and psychiatric symptoms among women with serious mental illness in this age group.