Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
The Journal of Midwifery & Reproductive health, cilt.9, sa.3, ss.1-10, 2021 (Scopus)
Background & aim: An investigation of the attitudes towards menopause is
considered to help to understand the menopausal period better in order to plan
more comprehensive health promotion approaches. This study aimed to
investigate the relationship between the attitudes towards menopause and sexual
functions among women in the climacteric period.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between the 1st May 2019 and
the 1st January 2020 in Turkey. The study was completed with 153 women in
climadteric period, who were selected using the simple random sampling method.
Data were collected through the socio-demographic questionnaire, the Attitude
towards Menopause Questionnaire (ATMQ), and the Female Sexual Function Index
(FSFI). Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and
Pearson correlation test.
Results: The mean scores of ATMQ and FSFI were found 34.39±12.30 and
20.05±9.18, respectively. The ATMQ indicated positive, and significant relationship
with all FSFI sub-scales and total scores (p<0.05).A significant difference was
found between the FSFI scores and age, age at first marriage, presence of a chronic
disease, duration of the marriage, number of births, number of pregnancies, and
the features of the menopausal period (p<0.05); however, these variables did not
indicate significant relationships with the ATMQ scores (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The results showed that two-thirds of the participating women had
negative attitudes towards menopause, and increased negative attitudes of women
affected their sexual functions, negatively. It is recommended to design health
promotion programs and counseling services to promote positive attitude towards
menopause in women in the climacteric period.