The Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Counseling on the Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women

Backgroundand objectives: : Menopause is associated with a lot of annoying symptoms due to estrogen deficiency. This symptoms affects women s health and quality of life during this period. Consultation can be useful to assist women in coping with these changes and Reduce problems and improving the quality of life.Therefore, the objective of this study was todetermine the effect of thecognitive-behavioral therapy on quality of life in post-menopausal women inTuyserkan, Iran. Materials and method: In this randomized clinical trial, 76 menopausal women who referred to health centers of Tuyserkan from September to December 2016 participated in this study. Six CBT sessions were held. The general quality of life questionnaire (item26BREF-WHOQOL) was applied. After completing six CBT sessions, the measurements were done. The data were analyzed using the the paired t-test and independent t-test. Results: Comparisons of quality of life scores between the two groups before initiating CBT was not significant (P> 0.05). The results showed that the mean scores of quality of life in the physical, psychological, social and environmental fields before and after the psychological counseling in the intervention group were statistically significant (p-value <0.05). These changes were not significant in thecontrol group(P> 0.05). Conclusion: It is suggested to use CBT for menopausal women to improve the quality of life of this group.

Keywords:

quality of life , menopause , cognitive-behavioral therapy