OBJECTIVE: To asses the menopause symptoms and the impact of menopause and some socio-demographic variables and the hormon replacement therapy on quality of life among women who were attending to a menopause Matreial and METHOD: The study was a cross-sectional and descriptive study which was conducted on 299 women who were attending to Trakya University Hospital Menopause Clinic, between February –September 2005. After applying a questionnaire about socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), SF-36 Health Survey and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were applied by trained interns respectively. RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 52.07±6.12 r(36.0 – 76.0). The mean age of menopause was 45.8±5.1 (26.0 – 56.0). 18.9 % of women were still using HRT, 37.0% have used in the past and 44.1% of them have never used HRT. Women who were stil using HRT, who were stil working, who were educated more than 8 years and who have had no problems in the family have had significantly lower MRS scores and significantly higher SF-36 scores than the others. While MRS scores and SF-36 scores were increasing, the HAD scores were decreasing significantly. CONCLUSION: We could say that the menopause symptoms effected the women’s health and quality of life, negatively. But it was not the only determinant of health perception and quality of life. The socio-economic, environmental and cultural factors and life style were also effective in menopause period like the other periods of life.

Keywords: menopause, quality of life, menopause rating scale, SF-36 health survey and hospital anxiety depression scale