ESTIMATION OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND SEVERITY OF MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS AMONG WOMEN

*Luma Azzawi Ferman, Zainab Mohammd D. Hmady and Balqees Saleh Hasan

ABSTRACT

Background: Menopause is a natural physiological process. Understanding its nature and symptoms can help women maintain a good quality of life during this period. Recent data on this topic are scarce in literature. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes towards menopause among women aged 40-60 years attending primary health care centers (PHCs), and to evaluate the severity of menopausal symptoms among them. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, involving a sample of 300 women. A multistage cluster sampling technique was used to randomly select. Data were collected from women aged 40-60 years attending these centers using a validated structured questionnaire, which included socio-demographic and reproductive information and the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) to assess the severity of menopausal symptoms. The data were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. Results: The mean age at menopause among the studied women was 46.6 ± 3.4 years. Knowledge about menopause was significantly low among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, while a positive attitude towards menopause was prevalent regarding most attitude items studied. The mean severity score of somatic symptoms was significantly high among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, as were the mean severity scores for psychological and urogenital symptoms. The mean total severity score was significantly high in perimenopausal women. Conclusion: The mean age at menopause was relatively low. The observed low level of knowledge highlights the need for increased efforts to raise awareness about menopause.

Keywords: Attitude, Knowledge, Menopause, Cross-sectional study.