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The aim of the present study was to analyze the effects of a Qigong exercise programme on the severity of the menopausal symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of community-dwelling postmenopausal women. This was done by means of a randomised clinical trial with a sample of 125 women who were assigned to either a control (n = 62) or an experimental group (n = 63). The severity of their menopause-related symptoms and HRQoL were assessed through the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) and the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) respectively, before and after the intervention period. The main findings of our study reveal significant improvement in the severity of menopausal symptoms at the somatic, psychological, and urogenital levels, as well as in the total score of the MRS. Additionally, participants assigned to the Qigong group experienced improvement in the general health, physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, vitality, and mental health domains of the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey, as well as in its physical component and mental component summaries. We can therefore conclude that, among Spanish postmenopausal women, a twelve-week Qigong exercise programme has beneficial effects on the severity of menopausal symptoms and HRQoL. Highlights We have studied the effects of Qigong on menopause-related quality of life. Qigong is a useful tool in the management of the severity of menopausal symptoms. A 12-week Qigong programme showed benefits on health-related quality of life. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03989453. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify women's sociodemographic and variables related to health care with the prescription of hormonal therapy (HT) and phytotherapy (PT) in Spanish postmenopausal women.Method: The survey consisted of a multicenter, observational, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based investigation and was conducted among 3022 postmenopausal women.Results: Of all the women, 31.8% reported the use of systemic HT or PT sometime in their lives. Hot flushes and information received about menopause were the most important variables that influence HT and PT use, although far more intense symptoms were observed in those who were inclined to use HT. The use of HT or PT was more frequently reported among women with high levels of education, who came from private clinics and lived in urban areas. Women who had primary ovarian insufficiency or surgical menopause were inclined to use HT.Conclusion: Hot flushes and information received about menopause are the most important variables that influence HT and PT use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess resilience and related factors among urban, mid-aged Spanish women.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study performed in 227 women aged 40-65 years who filled out the 14-item Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (WYRS-14), the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) and a questionnaire containing personal sociodemographic data.Results: For the whole sample, median (interquartile range) age and total WYRS-14 score were 52.4 (8.7) years and 79 (20.0) points, respectively. Resilience score was inversely related to non-working status, non-university studies, depressed mood, perimenopausal status, and higher MRS total scores (≥ 17). Using the 25th percentile of the obtained total WYRS-14 score as a cut-off value to define lower resilience (< 68.0 points), logistic regression analysis determined that low resilience was related to being unemployed, having depressed mood and being perimenopausal. Drinking less than 3 units/day of alcohol was significantly related to higher resilience.Conclusion: In this sample of urban, mid-aged Spanish women, low resilience (lower WYRS-14 scores) was related to unemployment status, depressed mood and severe menopausal symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Around the menopause, sleep disturbances frequently occur or worsen and are associated with decreased health quality and physical and psychological problems. The aim of this study was to analyze sleep quality and its association with the impact of menopausal symptoms in Spanish postmenopausal women. Methods: A total of 278 postmenopausal women (age 60.95 ± 8.01 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. The Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale (MOS-SS) and the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) were used to analyze sleep quality and severity of menopausal symptoms, respectively. Anxiety and depression were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: The linear regression showed that a greater impact of menopausal symptoms (MRS total score) was associated with worse scores regarding sleep adequacy ( p  < 0.001, R 2 = 0.056), snoring ( p  = 0.020, R 2 = 0.036), awaken short of breath ( p  < 0.001, R 2 = 0.089), and quantity of sleep ( p  < 0.001, R 2 = 0.075) domains. Anxiety ( p  < 0.001) and worse somatic symptoms ( p  = 0.001) were related to greater sleep disturbances ( R 2 = 0.164). We also found relationships of heightened psychological symptoms ( p  < 0.001) and low physical activity level ( p  = 0.003) with increased daytime somnolence ( R 2 = 0.064). Finally, higher MRS total score and anxiety levels were associated with worse sleep quality assessed by MOS-SS Sleep Problems Index I ( R Anxiety and severity of menopausal symptoms were associated with poorer sleep quality. Furthermore, low physical activity level and worse psychological symptoms in menopause were predictors for increased somnolence. Therefore, screening for these factors in postmenopausal women is important, since they may be susceptible for intervention.2 = 0.179, p  < 0.001 and p  = 0.001, respectively) and Sleep Problems Index II ( R 2 = 0.146, p  < 0.001 and p  = 0.011, respectively). Conclusions: Anxiety and severity of menopausal symptoms were associated with poorer sleep quality. Furthermore, low physical activity level and worse psychological symptoms in menopause were predictors for increased somnolence. Therefore, screening for these factors in postmenopausal women is important, since they may be susceptible for intervention.