RESULTS
The study included 224 women with a mean age of 53.0±6.1 (42–65) years.
Among the participants, 75.9% (n=170) were married, whereas 7.6%
(n=17) were single, and 16.5% (n=37) were divorced. (n=74). Of the
women, 33.0% were primary school graduates, 63.8% (n=143) had a
balance of income and expenses, and 58.0% had no chronic diseases.
Moreover, 71.0% of the respondents had gone through menopause, whereas
21.0% had not; and 8.0% did not know if they had gone through
menopause or not. The mean age of the first menstrual period of the
women was 13.02±1.31 (10–16) years, the median number of births was 2
(0–9), the mean menopausal age of women who had gone through menopause
was 47.79 ± 4.5 (38–58) years (Table 1).
Nearly half (56.7%) of the respondents said that they had previously
received information about menopause. Among these women, 59.4% had
received the information from doctors, whereas 18.8% received it from
midwives, 12.1% received it from social media, 18.3% received it from
acquaintances, and 8% received it from radio-TV. Of the participants,
82.6% thought that women who had gone through menopause or doubted so
should consult a doctor. The mean menopause knowledge score of the women
was 4.90±2.63 (1–10), and the average awareness score was 4.08±1.40
(1–6) (Table 6). Those with higher levels of education had higher
awareness scores, and those with lower income levels had lower
awareness.
While the mean ATMS score of the women was 43.97±10.93 (11–70), 37.9%
had a negative attitude (40 points and below) and 62.1% had a positive
attitude (above 40 points). A statistically significant relationship was
found between the marital and educational status of the participants and
the ATM score (p=0.008). The ATMS score of those who were married
(44.95±11.35) was higher than that of the single women (40.89 ± 8.91).
On the MRS scale, the mean somatic complaint score was found to be
6.43±3.74, whereas the psychological complaint score was 6.21±4.09,
urogenital complaint score was 3.88±2.65, and the total mean MRS score
was 16.53 ± 8.92. A statistically significant relationship was found
between the marital status, educational status, presence of chronic
disease, and menopause status of the participants, and the MRS score
(p<0.001). The menopause-related complaints of the women are
shown in Figure 1.
Psychological complaints (7.46±4.68), urogenital complaints (4.31±2.98),
and MRS total scores (18.02±10.14) of the women with negative attitudes
about menopause were found to be statistically significantly higher than
those of the women with positive attitudes (p=0.001, p=0.038, and
p=0.049, respectively) (Table 2). Somatic (7.64±3.71), psychological
(8.21±4.28), and urogenital (5.90±2.78) complaints of the women who
indicated that they performed no physical activity in daily life and
lived a sedentary life were found to be higher than those who performed
mild to moderate physical activity (p=0.045, p=0.002, p=0.002, and
p<0.001) (Table 3).
Among the women, 31.7% (n=71) were in the perimenopausal period, 28.1%
(n=63) were in the menopausal period, and 40.2% (n=90) were in the
postmenopausal period. Somatic (8.05±3.34), psychological (7.43±3.89),
and urogenital (3.79±2.94) complaints of the women in the menopausal
period were higher than those of the women in the perimenopausal and
postmenopausal periods (p<0.001). While the attitudes of the
women about menopause did not change in any of the 3 stages of the
climacteric period, the level of knowledge about menopause was higher in
menopausal women than in women in the perimenopausal and postmenopausal
periods (p<0.001) (Table 4).
There was a moderately significant negative relationship between the
ATMS scores of the women participating in the study and their
psychological complaints due to menopause (r=0.317, p=0.001). As their
positive attitude towards menopause increased, their psychological
complaints decreased. However, there was a moderately significant
negative relationship between the menopause awareness status and
psychological complaints of the women (r=–0.288, p=0.001). As their
menopause awareness increased, their psychological complaints decreased
(Table 5).