Why assess Health-Related Quality of Life with the Womens Health Questionnaire (WHQ)?
The use of health related quality of life (QOL) measures has increased exponentially during the past 20 years. There is clearly a need for valid and reliable instruments that can be used in epidemiological and multinational studies. The WHQ [1] is one of the most frequently utilised measures in the assessment of QOL in mid-aged populations of women. The WHQ was originally designed to assess symptom perceptions during the menopause transition and for older postmenopausal women, in response to the lack of available instruments standardised for this age group. It is within this age range (45–65 years) that hormonally mediated changes, such as vasomotor symptoms and vaginal dryness, menstrual changes and age-related bodily changes, such as changes in sleep patterns sexual behaviour and physical health, are prevalent. These changes can confound results derived from traditional scales. By sampling a range of symptoms, the development of the WHQ enabled examination of the relationships betwee
