Publication:

Knowledge and perception of postmenopausal women towards menopause

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.