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.