Representations of Menopause in Peruvian Women
Received: 31 Dec 2023 | Received in revised form: 14 Jun 2024
Accepted: 18 Jun 2024 | Available online: 19 Jul 2024Juan MATZUMURA KASANOa , Hugo GUTIERREZ CRESPOa , Raul Alberto RUIZ ARIASb , Diana Maris YUNCAR FAJARDOc
aUniversidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Lima, Peru
bUniversidad Nacional Federico Villarreal, Lima, Peru
cHospital Nacional Hipólito Unanue, Clinic of Psychiatry, Lima, Peru
JCOG.
DOI: 10.5336/jcog.2023-101150
Article Language: EN
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Türkiye Klinikleri. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
ABSTRACT
Objective: To describe the representations of menopause in women who received care in first-level health care facilities in the city of Lima. Material and Methods: Observational cross-sectional research in women aged ≥40 years. A simple random probability sample was used. The ''Menopause Representations Questionnaire'' was used, which has a reliability between 0.68 and 0.79. The questionnaire is composed of 22 questions and four dimensions, all questions are measured using a Likert scale. Results: The final sampling consisted of 819 women. The average age was 52.5 years. 69% reported having a stable union, 54.6% were working, 68.1% did not seek medical help, 31.9% used hormone therapy. Identity dimension: The presence of hot flashes, night sweats had an average of 3.9. Positive consequences dimension: Having more freedom to plan activities without worries had a mean value of 3. The control, awareness and causes dimension: Menopause is considered a natural phase of a woman's life with a value of 4.3. The control, awareness and causes dimension presented a mean value of 4.1 and the negative consequences dimension 2.72. Women who seek medical help showed differences in the identity, positive and negative consequences dimensions (p<0.05). Conclusion: Women perceive menopause as a natural phase of their lives and disagree with the idea that menopause means a decrease in quality of life.