TY - JOUR
T1 - Australian women’s understanding of menopause and its consequences
T2 - a qualitative study
AU - Herbert, D.
AU - Bell, R. J.
AU - Young, K.
AU - Brown, H.
AU - Coles, J. Y.
AU - Davis, S. R.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Background: This study was undertaken to determine women’s knowledge of menopause and its consequences, and their menopause-related health-care experiences. Methods: Participants were recruited to this cross-sectional qualitative study from a nationally, representative sample of Australian women. Recruitment was stratified by age to achieve groups of premenopausal (PRE), perimenopausal (PERI), early postmenopausal (E-POST), and late postmenopausal (L-POST) women. Results: The 32 participants were aged 46–69 years: 10 PRE, three PERI, 11 E-POST and eight L-POST women. All understood that menopause meant the end of reproductive function and were aware of menopause-associated symptoms. Most PRE and E-POST women referred to lifestyle changes to optimize health, and self-help and complementary therapies to manage symptoms. E-POST and L-POST women were more likely to nominate seeing a doctor for overall health and symptom management. Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) was viewed negatively, with shared perceptions of cancer risk and over-prescription. A strong theme was lack of knowledge of long-term menopause sequelae, with only four women nominating osteoporosis. Conclusions: Our in-depth qualitative study would suggest that, while Australian midlife women have a good understanding of the immediate effects of menopause, their lack of knowledge of the long-term consequences is concerning. Despite the effectiveness and safety of MHT, the overall attitude to MHT remains negative.
AB - Background: This study was undertaken to determine women’s knowledge of menopause and its consequences, and their menopause-related health-care experiences. Methods: Participants were recruited to this cross-sectional qualitative study from a nationally, representative sample of Australian women. Recruitment was stratified by age to achieve groups of premenopausal (PRE), perimenopausal (PERI), early postmenopausal (E-POST), and late postmenopausal (L-POST) women. Results: The 32 participants were aged 46–69 years: 10 PRE, three PERI, 11 E-POST and eight L-POST women. All understood that menopause meant the end of reproductive function and were aware of menopause-associated symptoms. Most PRE and E-POST women referred to lifestyle changes to optimize health, and self-help and complementary therapies to manage symptoms. E-POST and L-POST women were more likely to nominate seeing a doctor for overall health and symptom management. Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) was viewed negatively, with shared perceptions of cancer risk and over-prescription. A strong theme was lack of knowledge of long-term menopause sequelae, with only four women nominating osteoporosis. Conclusions: Our in-depth qualitative study would suggest that, while Australian midlife women have a good understanding of the immediate effects of menopause, their lack of knowledge of the long-term consequences is concerning. Despite the effectiveness and safety of MHT, the overall attitude to MHT remains negative.
KW - knowledge of menopause
KW - menopausal hormone therapy
KW - Menopause
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088532142&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13697137.2020.1791072
DO - 10.1080/13697137.2020.1791072
M3 - Article
C2 - 32705886
AN - SCOPUS:85088532142
SN - 1369-7137
VL - 23
SP - 622
EP - 628
JO - Climacteric
JF - Climacteric
IS - 6
ER -