| dc.description.abstract | A descriptive qualitative study was carried out to assess the perception and experience regarding menopause among older women, a case study in Nawanyago sub county Kamuli district. A simple snow ball sampling technique was used to collect focused information from menopausal women in Nawanyago Sub County. A sample of 95 respondents was determined. In the process of data collection, face to face interviews, key informants interviews and focus group discussions were used. Data was edited, coded and analyzed using the SPSS Version from the triangulated focus group discussions with the pre determined indicators arising from the guided questionnaires.
The mean age of participants was 52.4 years and that at menopause was 45.1 years. Attitude towards menopause was positive with a major perception that they were getting older,80% perceived menopausal women as respected, 71.6% perceived it as a natural condition,58.8% as a medical condition which needs intervention and 54.7% believed this was the time women should separate bedrooms from their husband’s.80% were bothered with menopause and 66.3% stated that they should not tell anybody when they reach menopause. At least one symptom of menopause was affirmed by 82.1% of the participants.
Discomforting experiences attributed to menopause included muscle and joint problems (86.3%), hot flushes (77.9%), and vaginal dryness (61.1%) actions taken to alleviate the symptoms included going to the health centre (48.4%), (33.7%) did self medication and (37.9%) separated bedrooms from their husband’s among others.
Majority of the women perceived menopause to be a condition which is natural and people who are respected and many women were bothered with menopausal symptoms with poor coping strategies to alleviate the symptoms.
The study findings indicate the importance of community based education, public enlightenment and public health care systems interventions are needed to address these problems. | en_US |
