A Survey of Knowledge and Attitude of Menopause Among Post-Menopausal Women in Pakistan.

Introduction: Menopause a critical phase in women life, is defined as last menses and can be declared after 12 months of amenorrhea. Menopause is accompanied by several distressing symptoms that burden patient`s quality of life. Moreover menopause is associated with several cardiovascular and bone complications. Cardiovascular complications are also major cause of mortality among women. Intensity of menopausal symptoms, socioeconomic and education status, physical and emotional health may influence women`s knowledge and attitude about menopause Objective: Purpose of study is to report knowledge and attitude of women regarding menopause in Pakistan. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from November, 2011 to September, 2012 among representative sample of women aged 45-70 years belonging to three big cities of Pakistan. The predesigned questionnaire was used to collect the information regarding sociodemographic data, knowledge and attitude of women towards menopause and about health problem related to menopause and women’s experience of menopausal symptoms. A team of five trained researchers distributed questionnaire to participants via convenience sampling after obtaining consent. Total of 1000 participants were approached (200 via each researcher). 783 completed the questionnaire making response rate of study as 78%. Results: 78% and 22% respondents have natural menopause and surgically induced menopause respectively. The mean knowledge and attitude score of participants was 45.13 ± 9.23 and 52.32 ± 11.21 respectively. 48% of the participants had poor, 35% had moderate and 17 % had good knowledge regarding awareness, sign and symptoms and causes of menopause. Majority (69.12 %) of participants had positive attitude towards menopause except use of HRT therapy. 51.7 % patients had good socioeconomic status and had good knowledge compared to 49.3 % of participants with poor socioeconomic status (p=0.031). A higher education level (p=0.041), good socio-economic status (p=0.012), and surgically induced menopause (0.032) were the demographic factors that showed statistically significant association with higher knowledge and positive attitude towards menopause. Conclusion: The knowledge of menopausal women regarding signs, symptoms, causes and treatments of menopause was poor in two cities (Faisalabad, Lahore) as compared to Islamabad. It might be due to good socioeconomic status and higher education level of participants residing in Islamabad . Health care professionals and authorities should take initiatives to aware menopausal women regarding menopause so that they can cope up better with this phase of life.