Factors associated with knowledge about menopause and hormone therapy in middle-aged Brazilian women: a population-based household survey

Abstract

The knowledge about menopause and HT demonstrated by the interviewees was low and possibly related to the time of exposure to qualified information.

Vaginal Health: Insights, Views & Attitudes survey in Latin America (VIVA-LATAM): focus on Brazil

“…Improved knowledge may result in receipt of early intervention for vaginal atrophy, which is in line with previously published health-care advice 5 . Indeed, results from other studies in Brazil support such an approach [20][21][22] . For instance, de Arruda Amaral et al 20 reported a smaller analysis of a larger, cross-sectional study involving middle-aged women in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas 20,21,[23][24][25][26][27] , showing that the enrolled women may have had limited knowledge of the menopause and hormone therapy.…”

“…Indeed, results from other studies in Brazil support such an approach [20][21][22] . For instance, de Arruda Amaral et al 20 reported a smaller analysis of a larger, cross-sectional study involving middle-aged women in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas 20,21,[23][24][25][26][27] , showing that the enrolled women may have had limited knowledge of the menopause and hormone therapy. The authors concluded that adequate dissemination of knowledge by clinicians would help inform women and enable them to participate in shared decisionmaking, allowing them to choose the best form of therapy for their symptoms 20 .…”

“…However, the results showed that even in this cohort, many women lacked knowledge about postmenopausal urogenital symptomatology. This is likely even more applicable to women with a lower level of formal education or those living in more remote locations; indeed, the previously mentioned survey of women from Campinas 20 found that greater knowledge of the menopause and hormone therapy was apparent among individuals with higher educational levels (p < 0.001). Furthermore, in a crosssectional study involving women from the Brazilian Western Amazon attending an outpatient clinic (n ¼ 1415, of whom 35.8% and 10.1% were postmenopausal and perimenopausal, respectively), a low educational level was statistically associated with severe menopausal symptoms (odds ratio 1.53; 95% confidence interval 1.21-1.95; p < 0.001) 30 .…”

“…For instance, de Arruda Amaral et al 20 reported a smaller analysis of a larger, cross-sectional study involving middle-aged women in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas 20,21,[23][24][25][26][27] , showing that the enrolled women may have had limited knowledge of the menopause and hormone therapy. The authors concluded that adequate dissemination of knowledge by clinicians would help inform women and enable them to participate in shared decisionmaking, allowing them to choose the best form of therapy for their symptoms 20 . Further evaluation of data from the same cross-sectional study suggests that outcomes may be improved by better understanding factors that influence menopausal symptom severity, and identifying women for whom multidisciplinary health care may be appropriate 21 .…”

Women’s knowledge on the menopausal transition in relation to their socio-economic status

“…showed that among 40–45-year-old women from Iran there was a meaningful relation between women’s knowledge, so that higher educated, employed and satisfied women had higher knowledge of menopause [ 11 ]. Data from Brazilian women, aged 45–60 years, confirmed that higher education level was significantly associated with a higher knowledge on menopause [ 12 ]. A study of 44 Turkish women (with a mean age of 50.41 ± 6.36 years) living in the district centre of Beylikova and having mostly a lower educational level showed positive changes in menopause-related level of knowledge after a planned training programme [ 13 ].…”