The level of knowledge and attitude about menopause and hormonal replacement therapy among 40- 60 years females attending primary health care centers at Makkah Al-Mukarramah, 2018. Cross-sectional study
Background:Menopause is defined as 12 consecutive months of amenorrhea without any other obvious pathological or physiological cause. HRT is an effective management for menopausal symptoms.
OBJECTIVES:To assess the knowledge and attitudes towards menopause and hormonal replacement therapy among 40- 60 years females attending primary health care centers at MakkahAl-Mukarramah, 2018.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study in three primary health care centres (PHCCs) selected by random clustered sampling techniqueamong a female age group 40- 60 years attending the general clinic of PHCCs in MakkahAl-Mukarramah, KSA. Aninterviewed questionnaire was utilized for data collection.
RESULTS:A total of 269 women participated in the study. More than a half reported pre-menopausal. The mean knowledge about menopause score percentage was 75.58 = ±17.75. Regarding the knowledge about symptoms of menopause, ―Mood Swings‖ was reported by the majority, followed by ―Feeling more tired than usual‖. On the awareness part the highest agreement was for statements ―Menopause occurs when menstruation stops‖. There was significant difference in the mean knowledge percentage for menopausal statusand marital status (p= 0.040).The mean attitude score was 2.05 with S.D.± 0.26 indicating a neutral attitude towards menopause among these women.There were statistically significant differences in means of the attitude score with menopausal status and educational level (p = 0.009 and p = 0.023 respectively). Assessment of knowledge about HRT showed that only 18.2% of the participants were aware about HRT as atreatment for menopausal symptoms.
CONCLUSION: The study revealed low to average knowledge about menopause. There was a neutral attitude towards menopause.