Quality of life in a large cohort of mid-aged Colombian women assessed using the Cervantes Scale

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess quality of life (QoL) in a cohort of mid-aged Colombian women using the Cervantes Scale (CS). METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 1,739 healthy women aged 40 to 59 years were asked to simultaneously fill out the CS and a questionnaire containing general female demographic data. The CS includes four domains: menopause and health (15 items), psychological (9 items), sexuality (4 items), and couple relationship (3 items). In addition, the menopause and health domain includes three subdomains: vasomotor symptoms, health, and aging. The global CS score may range from 0 to 155 (from better to worse QoL). RESULTS: Multiple linear regression determined that CS scores (global and domains) significantly increased (therefore, worse QoL) with age, menopause status, body mass index, parity, race, and marital and working status. The CS displayed a high internal consistency as Cronbach α values for the global and domain scores were above 0.80. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to report QoL assessment using the CS among mid-aged Latin American women from Colombia in whom age, menopause status, body mass index, and other personal factors influenced QoL.