Knowledge and perception of postmenopausal women towards menopause

Abstract

Background: Aim of the research was to study the knowledge and perception of postmenopausal women towards menopause.Methods: It was a cross sectional study which was carried at outpatient department of psychiatry, Government medical college, Srinagar over a period of 3 months. Participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the study were evaluated on a semi-structured proforma for demographic variables, knowledge and attitude towards menopause.Results: A total of 120 postmenopausal women were included in our study. Mean age of study population was s 54.5±8.6 years. Majority of women belonged to rural background (80.0%) in the age group of 51-60 years (58.3%), married (78.3%), having 1-3 issues (53.3%) and had received no formal education (67.5%). Menopause was natural in (80.8%) of women and (19.2%) had surgical menopause. 85% of study population had heard about menopause at the time their periods stopped mostly from family elders and friends. 45% had knowledge about the age of the menopause, while as only (20.8%) were aware about the symptoms of menopause. 56.6% of study population were having positive perception about the menopause.Conclusions: Majority of our women were unaware of menopausal symptoms. Most of them considered it as a natural process of aging and thus were having a positive perception about the menopause.

A Cross-Sectional Study to Evaluate the Knowledge Regarding Menopausal Phenomenon among Menopausal Women in a Hilly State of Northern India

“…Another study conducted byHaamid Ismail et al, 3 , 45% study population had knowledge about the age of the menopause, while as only 20.8% were aware about the symptoms of menopause.EnsiehNorooziet al, 11 showedthat the average knowledge score of subjects was 63.57 ± 10.79. In their study, 8% of the subjects had poor knowledge, 68% had moderateknowledge and 38.5% had good knowledge.…”

“…Menopause is not just the cessation of menstruation, it is the 'depletion of ovarian follicles' leading to decrease in ovarian hormones. [3][4][5] Menopause occurs during a crucial time in a woman's life when there is a lot of social transition and it also coincides with the "Empty Nest Syndrome," in which women find themselves alone after their children leave the house and experience an increased frequency of psychosomatic symptoms. 1,6,7 Knowledge regarding the menopause may differ from one female population to another.…”