Quality of life assessment in women with spontaneous premature insufficiency: A comparative cross-sectional study

Premature ovarian insufficiency is cessation of ovarian function prior to 40 years of age. It is known to have varied short and long-term implications on the health of the women. The quality of life is affected in various domanins. The objective of this study is to evaluate QOL of women with POI and the factors associated with it, using WHO QOL-BREF scale. This is a cross sectional comparative study. Women with premature ovarian insufficiency with normal karyotype were included before initiation of hormone replacement therapy as cases and age matched women without any menstrual irregularity, infertility or any chronic illness were included as controls. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients. The pre-validated Tamil version of the WHOQOL-BREF (26 items, 4 domains) was filled through face-to-face interview. The score of each domain was transformed into 0–100 as per the guideline provided by WHOQOL-BREF. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 19. A total of 100 (50 women with POI and 50 control women) completed the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. The mean age of the women who participated in the study was 29.6 ± 6.5 years. Among the cases, 72% were nulliparous. There was statistically significant difference in the median scores of overall QOL, physical, psychological and social domains between the two groups. Univariate analysis showed that nulliparity and infertility were the factors responsible for poor QOL, however, these were not independently associated with poor QOL after applying bivariate linear regression analysis. The scores of overall QOL, physical, psychological and social domains were poorer in women with POI as compared to healthy controls.