Race, Menopause, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Psychological Well-Being in Obese Women

Race, menopause, health-related quality of life, and psychological well-being in obese women. Obes Res. 2002;10:1270 –1275. Objective: To investigate the health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in African-American (AA) and white (W) obese women. Research Methods and Procedures: Participants were 145 obese women (80 AA and 65 W; 87 premenopausal and 58 postmenopausal) who completed the Medical Outcomes Study short form, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Life Distress Inventory, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale before entering a weight-loss study. The mean age of the subjects was 46.3   11.1 years and the mean body mass index was 35.2   4.2 kg/m2. Results: Although AA women were slightly heavier (95.3   10.3 kg vs. 91.5   11.6 kg, p   0.05) and less educated (14.2   3.7 years vs. 15.7   3.7 years, p   0.05) than the W women in the sample, there was no difference between the two ethnic groups in any of the reported HR-QOL variables. Menopausal status had a significant effect on HR-QOL, with premenopausal women being more distressed (p   0.002), having more limitations in social activity (p   0.007), and having less vitality (p   0.001) than the postmenopausal women. This was especially true in the AA women. Discussion: These data show no difference in HR-QOL between AA and W obese women and suggest that menopausal status may have an impact on HR-QOL, especially in AA women