INTRODUCTION
The life of a female consists of five periods, comprising childhood, adolescence, sexual maturity, menopause, and old age. Each of these periods has its own physical, psychological, and hormonal differences.1 The climacteric period covers the perimenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal periods, and is a period of life in which the woman transitions from reproductive age to the age in which the reproductive cycle ends. Menopause is an important milestone that shows the end of the reproductive cycle in women. The average age for natural menopause is about 51 and varies in different populations.2 According to the Definition of the World Health Organization, menopause is a condition of the ”permanent end of menstruation as a result of the loss of ovarian activity”.3 Accurate definitions for menopause and associated concepts have been provided by the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop. After the final menstrual cycle, menopause is characterized as 12 months of amenorrhea, representing an almost complete but normal decrease in ovarian hormone secretion.4 On average, one-third of a women’s life passes in menopause. The menopausal period is an important period that brings many physical and psychological changes, and significantly affects the family and society.5 In order to have a healthy and happy period that cannot be underestimated for human life, women need to know how to deal with the problems of the menopausal period. Night sweats, hot flashes, and sleep problems, psychological problems (anxiety, depression, discomfort, sexual abstinence, etc.) and atrophic changes (vaginal atrophy, stress incontinence, and dyspareunia, etc.) are the most common problems during this period. Osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases occur, as well. Although the exact causes of the complaints observed during menopause are not known, they are generally thought to be caused by the lack of estrogen.6 The most common symptoms reported by women in the menopausal period are hot flashes and night sweats, which are observed in the transition to menopause. Although it affects about 70% of women in Northern Europe and America, the prevalence of vasomotor symptoms and the experience of menopause vary significantly between cultures.7Moreover, eating habits, and cultural and ethnic differences are among the factors considered to be effective in the emergence of menopausal complaints.8 Symptoms that occur in menopause cover as a whole the physical changes, cultural influences, and individual perceptions. To understand menopause well, it is necessary to take into account biological factors, as well as psychological, social, and cultural ones.
The consideration of menopause as a natural process of life or disease by women and the developments in their lives that occur with middle age affect their attitudes about menopause. In the literature, it was found that the personality characteristics of individuals can be an important factor in the formation of menopause-related attitudes, as can be the stereotypes, perspective of life, marital relationship, optimistic attitude, and menopausal life. In the studies on menopausal complaints, it was reported that the attitudes of women concerning menopause were an effective variable in the occurrence and severity of menopause complaints. It is possible to reduce the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms through studies aimed at improving menopause knowledge level and menopause attitude.9 Sexual problems have an important place during menopause. Studies have reported a decrease in the sexual interest and frequency of sexual intercourse, 47%–85% loss of sexual desire, 20% decrease in the frequency of orgasms, 20%–70% decrease in the frequency of sexual intercourse, and 40% increase in dyspareunia in the first couple of years of menopause. These results are thought to be the result of estrogen deficiency, as well as androgen deficiency.10,11 Maintaining quality of life in menopause is an important goal, and it is one of the responsibilities of health professionals to eliminate the complaints of women in this period, and determine quality of life and the situations associated with it. Patient education during menopause and knowing the symptoms experienced or likely to be experienced during menopause will make it easier for the woman to deal with these problems. In this context, this study aimed to determine the menopause knowledge levels and awareness of women in the climacteric period, to determine the symptoms of menopause and their attitudes towards menopause, and compare them with their level of knowledge.