Individual perceptions and health seeking behaviour of rural postmenopausal women

Abstract

Background: Menopause is a universal phenomenon in woman’s life. Severe problems during these period impacts on quality of life. Majority of the rural areas has poor knowledge and poor seeking behaviour due to various factors. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in rural field practice area of Osmania Medical College using pre designed and pretested questionnaire schedule about socio demographic profile, their perceptions of menopause and their related problems; various post menopause related health problems classified using modified menopause rating scale and their health seeking behaviour was assessed. Results: Mean age at menopause was 44.8 yrs. Majority of them (41.8%) perceived their health the same; 37.2% as deteriorated and 4.7% welcomed positively. Common reasons for deterioration were joint pains, eye problems and weight gain. About 35% of them sought health care for any of the postmenopausal health problems. Of these they mostly visited for cardiovascular and skeletal disorders which are long term effects of menopause. Conclusions: Most of the postmenopausal women perceived their health the same and their health seeking behaviour was also less which implies a great need to educate and create awareness about the problems related to menopause.