Impact of clinician and patient attitudes on clinical decision making for the symptomatic menopausal woman with or without comorbidity

Prevalence of menopausal symptoms and attitudes towards menopausal hormone therapy in women aged 40-60 years: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Menopause is a specific physical and psychological transition period for women, during which they experience a series of menopausal symptoms. Menopausal hormone therapy is an important treatment for improving menopausal symptoms. Helping women correctly understand menopausal hormone therapy is a prerequisite for increasing the acceptance and utilization of menopausal hormone therapy by women. Physical examinations are an important method for women to master their own health status and detect potential health problems, and in recent years, an increasing number of women have actively participated in physical examinations. Therefore, this study aims to comprehend the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and attitudes towards menopausal hormone therapy among women aged 40-60 who underwent physical examinations, which would provide a useful reference to reduce the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and improve acceptance of menopausal hormone therapy.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Health Management Centre of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University in Luzhou City, Sichuan Province. The data were collected from 295 women aged between 40 and 60 using convenience sampling. Information on all participants was collected through face-to-face interviews. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and an attitude towards menopausal hormone therapy questionnaire, and the modified Kupperman index was used to assess the prevalence and severity of participants' menopausal symptoms. The collected data were processed using SPSS and Excel software and analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

RESULTS

The top 5 menopausal symptoms were insomnia, fatigue, bone and joint pain, sexual dysfunction and emotional instability. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that residence, sexual intercourse frequency, mentality, and physical exercise were the influencing factors of menopausal symptoms. The study showed that 77% of women said they were still reluctant to receive menopausal hormone therapy after experiencing menopause-related symptoms. The main source of menopausal hormone therapy-related knowledge among women was from surrounding menopausal women (62%), and 54% wanted to gain menopausal hormone therapy-related knowledge through a web-based approach.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of menopausal symptoms is higher in women aged 40-60 years, which is related to women's mentality, exercise, and sexual intercourse frequency. In addition, the results of this study indicate that women's knowledge of menopausal hormone therapy is insufficient, which suggests that we need to strengthen health education to improve the acceptance rate of menopausal hormone therapy.

Menopausal Symptoms and Perimenopausal Healthcare-Seeking Behavior in Women Aged 40-60 Years: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Survey in Shanghai, China

The aim of the study was to specify prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms among middle-aged women and to understand the factors associated with women’s perimenopausal healthcare-seeking behavior in Shanghai, China. A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out involving 3147 participants aged 40–60 years. A combination of stratified sampling and quota sampling was used. Out of the total 16 districts in Shanghai, 7 were purposefully selected in consideration of covering both central and suburban areas, population distribution, and willingness to participate. Two communities were randomly selected in each of six districts. Four communities were randomly selected in the 7th district considering the relatively low coverage of central population in the sampling frame. Eligible women were recruited continuously according to the house number and invited to participate in the study until 200 participants were recruited in each community. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect information including sociodemographic data, menopausal symptoms, and experiences in seeking perimenopausal healthcare. The severity of menopausal symptoms was assessed with the modified Kupperman menopausal index (mKMI). The mean age of all the participants was 51 years. 33.13% of the participants were premenopausal, 14.52% were perimenopausal, and 52.35% were postmenopausal. The total prevalence of menopausal symptoms was 73.8%, while among the perimenopausal women, the symptoms were the most common (81.70%). The top three reported symptoms were fatigue (38.08%), hot flushes and sweating (33.65%), and joint ache (28.81%). Perimenopausal and postmenopausal participants had a higher score of the mKMI than premenopausal women (p < 0.01). Of the women who had symptoms, 25.97% had sought healthcare. A logistic regression model revealed that employment, menstruation status, and the mKMI were significantly associated with healthcare-seeking behaviors (p < 0.01). We concluded that prevalence of menopausal symptoms was relatively high among middle-aged women, with perimenopausal women showing the highest level. However, only a small percentage of the participants sought healthcare. Carrying out health education may be a measure to improve the healthcare-seeking behavior.

Empowering self-care ability - a follow-up study of clinical-based perimenopausal women personal health counselling

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate the longitudinal effects of a personal counselling intervention for perimenopausal women in northern Taiwan.

BACKGROUND

Women face a variety of physical changes during menopause. Counselling intervention could enrich individual health education for menopausal women.

DESIGN

Quasi-experimental design.

METHODS

The study used one-on-one personal health counselling with a 'menopausal health passport' for perimenopausal women. The Perceived Perimenopausal Disturbances scale, the Practice of Health Behavior scale and the Perceived Uncertainty scale were used to measure the intervention effects. Results were estimated by a Generalized Estimating Equation procedure at one and a half months, three months and six months post intervention. In addition, data regarding perceived health changes were collected qualitatively through interviews in the experimental group at the sixth month.

RESULTS

A total of 34 women were included in the experimental group, while 33 were in the control group. Interaction effect results showed that personal health counselling significantly increased the practice of health behaviours at one and a half months and extended to three months post intervention. Additionally, content categories, including 'relief of symptoms', 'establishment of health behaviors', 'interaction with others' and 'consideration from others' were identified in quantitative analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that perimenopausal personal health counselling can effectively improve healthy behaviours. This study can also serve as a future reference for effective perimenopausal counselling.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

It is crucial to set up personal health counselling for perimenopausal women in clinics and develop information technology systems to support menopausal women in the technological era.