Effect of mobile phone app-based education on quality of life and menopausal symptoms in menopausal women
Maedeh Mazrouei-Ahmadsaraei, Fatemeh Jafarzadeh-Kenarsari, Zahra Bostani Khalesi, Saman MaroufizadehObjective
This study aimed to investigate the effect of mobile app–based education on menopausal symptoms and quality of life (QoL) among menopausal women attending an educational, research, and therapeutic center.
Methods
This was a quasi-experimental study (educational intervention) with a controlled pre-test and post-test design. The study population included 86 menopausal women who were included in the study using convenience sampling and were then assigned into experimental and control groups by block randomization method. Data collection was carried out in the pre and post-intervention phases using individual–social and fertility characteristics form, Greene climacteric scale (GCS), and standard menopause-specific quality of life (MENQOL) questionnaire. The intervention group utilized the menopause mobile phone application for eight weeks. The control group did not receive any education. After the end of 8 weeks, GSC and MENQOL questionnaire were completed by the experimental and control groups via a phone call. Data analysis was also performed using independent t-test, paired t-test, and change-score analysis with p-value< 0.05 considered as the significance level in all tests.
Results
Compared to the control group, the intervention group revealed a significant decrease in the average scores of all domains of QoL, the total score, and menopausal symptoms except for the sexual domain (p<0.01).
Conclusion
The implementation of mobile phone app-based education can help improve QoL of menopausal women and reduce the severity of their menopausal symptoms. Hence, it can be used as an effective method for better management of menopausal symptoms and improving QoL of these women.