MENOPAUSAL EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS AMONG WOMEN IN IBADAN SOUTH EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NIGERIA

Abstract

Menopause is a natural period in which menstruation period stops, thus ending in most cases, a woman's childbearing years. More still needs to be known about the discomforts which are associated with menopause. The study therefore designed to determine the menopause experiences and perceptions of menopause women in Ibadan South East Local Government Area. A three-stage sampling techniques was used to select the LGA wards and participants for the study. Eight Focus Group (FGD) were conducted and a validated questionnaire was used to interview 240 participants aged 46-69 years. Five questions were used to assess participants' knowledge with each question attracting 1 point thus culminating to a maximum of 5 points. Data from FGD were recorded on audio-tapes, transcribed and subjected to content analysis. Descriptive and Chi-square statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data. The mean age of participants was 56.9 ± 6.2 years. The mean age at menopause was 46.1±2.5 years. Most participants (97.5%) had at least one child. Eighty-five percent of participants had ever heard about menopause and the participants' sources of information included close relatives (75.5%), print and electronic media (8.9%), friends (7.8%) and health care providers (4.9%). The mean knowledge score for menopause using a 5 point scale was 2.8 ± 1.0. Only 28.0% of the participants could state at least one symptom of menopause and 4.1% could list the risks associated with it. Fifty-four percent who scored above the mean knowledge score had positive attitude towards menopause regarding it as a natural occurence. Seventy-percent had the belief that sexual intercourse causes sickness for menopause women. The perception of most participants (83.3%) was that menopause marks the end of a woman's ability to become pregnant. The belief of 60.8% of the participants was that women should not tell anyone about there menopause experiences. Eighty-three percent had experienced at least one out of the 19 common symptoms of menopause. Discomforting experiences attributed to menopause included dryness of the vagina (81.3%), pain during intercourse (76.7%), joint pains (74.2%), loss of sexual urge (69.9%). Only 32.8% took action to alleviate the discomforts. Actions taken included self-medication (47.4%), adoption of sexual abstinence (13.0%), body massage (5.1%), and leaving matrimonial home primarily to avoid sex (3.6%). illnesses perceived to be associated with menopause included: fibroid (34.4%), weakness of the body (30.0%) and protruding stomach (18.0%). FGD revealed that many of the participants were of the opinion that sex should be avoided by menopause women in order to prevent adverse effects associated with menopause. Some discussants were of the view that menopause brings relief from menstruation. There are gaps in knowledge, wrong perceptions and use of inappropriate palliative measures regarding menopause among the participants. Public enlightenment and community-based patient education interventions are needed to address these challenges.