Menopause experiences and attitudes in women with intellectual disability and in their family carers

Abstract

Background Little is known about how middle-aged and older women with intellectual disability (ID) cope with life transitions such as perimenopause and postmenopause.

Method A mixed methods approach was employed to explore the attitudes toward and experiences of menopause among women with ID and their family carers in one city in Taiwan.

Results A survey found that how the carers perceived the level of menopausal symptoms in their female family members with ID was affected by their attitudes toward menopause; and carer age and education were significant factors associated with carer menopausal attitudes. The results of in-depth interviews indicated the carers’ gender, age, kinships with the women with ID, and the carers’ own menopausal experiences were related to how the carers felt about the menopausal transition of the women with ID.

Conclusions Both quantitative and qualitative findings show that little attention has been paid to either the menopausal transition experiences or the wellbeing of women with ID.

Keywords:

• intellectual disability
• ageing
• carer
• mixed methods
• menopause
• Taiwan

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.