Abstract
Objective
Only a few studies have examined the association between race/ethnicity and health-related
quality of life (HRQOL) during midlife. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine
this association in the context of a population-based study of Caucasian and African-American
women aged 45–54 years.
Methods
Data from 626 pre- and peri-menopausal African-American and Caucasian women aged 45–54
years were analyzed. HRQOL was measured using Cantril's Self-Anchoring Ladder of Life,
a validated measure of overall life satisfaction. Body mass index was determined using
measured height and weight. Information on race and other variables such as education
was based on self-report. Logistic regression models were constructed to examine the
unadjusted and adjusted associations between race and low present HRQOL (≤6 on Cantril's
Ladder of Life).
Results
In both the unadjusted and adjusted analyses, race was not significantly associated
with low present HRQOL (unadjusted OR 1.57; 95% CI 0.93, 2.65; adjusted OR 0.82; 95%
CI 0.42, 1.61). In the fully adjusted model, only the number of menopausal symptoms
and self-rated health were significantly associated with present HRQOL.
Conclusions
Findings from this population-based study suggest that race is not a statistically
significant determinant of present HRQOL among midlife women.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to MaturitasAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Health status assessment methods for adults: past accomplishments and future challenges.Annu Rev Public Health. 1999; 20: 309-335
- The association between menopausal symptoms and quality of life in midlife women.Fertil Steril. 2006; 86: 1006-1008
- Quality of life in diverse groups of midlife women: assessing the influence of menopause, health status and psychosocial and demographic factors.Qual Life Res. 2004; 13: 933-946
- Menopause and perceived health status among the women of the French GAZEL cohort.Maturitas. 1994; 20: 113-120
- Perceived change in quality of life during the menopause.Soc Sci Med. 2006; 62: 93-102
- Health-related quality of life in a multiethnic sample of middle-aged women: Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).Med Care. 2003; 41: 1262-1276
- Ethnicity and vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women.J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2007; 16: 1130-1138
- Association between race and hot flashes in midlife women.Maturitas. 2006; 54: 260-269
- Is there a menopausal syndrome? Menopausal status and symptoms across racial/ethnic groups.Soc Sci Med. 2001; 52: 345-356
- Menopausal symptoms in Hispanic women and the role of socioeconomic factors.Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2006; 61: 187-193
- Correlates of sexual function among multi-ethnic middle-aged women: results from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).Menopause. 2005; 12: 385-398
- The pattern of human concerns.Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ1965
- Cigarette smoking, estrogen levels, and hot flashes in midlife women.Maturitas. 2006; 53: 133-143
- The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population.Appl Psychol Meas. 1977; 3: 385-401
- Screening for depression in primary care clinics: the CES-D and the BDI.Int J Psychiatry Med. 1990; 20: 259-277
- Race, menopause, health-related quality of life, and psychological well-being in obese women.Obes Res. 2002; 10: 1270-1275
- Depression and health-related quality of life in ethnic minorities seeking care in general medical settings.J Affect Disord. 2000; 58: 89-97
- Quality of life of African-American and white long term breast carcinoma survivors.Cancer. 1999; 85: 418-426
- Emotional vitality among disabled older women: the Women's Health and Aging Study.J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998; 46: 807-815
- A comparison of the quality of life reported by elderly whites and elderly blacks on dialysis.Geriatr Nephrol Urol. 1998; 8: 77-83
- Literature review of instruments to assess health-related quality of life during and after menopause.Qual Life Res. 2005; 14: 309-327
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 24, 2009
Accepted:
February 3,
2009
Received in revised form:
January 20,
2009
Received:
October 9,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
