756 - Factors associated with self-esteem in post-menopausal women

Objectives: The aim of our study was to measure the level of self-esteem in menopausal women and to determine the factors associated with it.

Design: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study over a period of 2 months in physical medicine department including postmenopausal women meeting the inclusion criteria. The patients' sociodemographic data were collected. Menopausal symptoms were assessed using the MRS score. Psychological assessment was based on the PHQ-9 questionnaire translated and validated in Arabic, and self-esteem was assessed by the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES) translated and validated in Arabic.

Results: Eighty patients participated in the study. The mean age was 58.85 ± 4.97 years, with extremes ranging from 44 to 64 years. Most (75%) were illiterate or had primary school education. Obesity was noted in 30% of the women. With regard to menopausal symptoms, the mean total MRS score was 12.28 ± 6.18.

Psychologically, self-esteem was low in 48.8% of women and depression in 36.3%. In the analytical study, we noted that level of education (p< 10-3), type of social security coverage (p=0.021), having children (p< 10-3), obesity (p=0.036) and level of physical activity (p=0.001) were significantly associated with self-esteem.

Multivariate analysis noted that the factors independently associated with self-esteem were educational level (p=0.002), presence of children (p=0.023), depression (p=0.002) and severity of menopausal symptoms (p=0.046).

Conclusions: Educational level and a good level of physical activity were important factors in improving self-perception. It is therefore important to promote them in order to enhance the value of the ageing process, while offering appropriate support to help women strengthen their self-esteem during this period of their lives.