Knowledge and awareness toward menopause and hormone therapy among premenopausal women in Jordan

Abstract

Background

Menopause is a natural important transition in women’s life. Having adequate knowledge and perception about menopause at a young age is critical for women to cope better with its associated consequences and improve their well-being.

Objective

This study evaluated the awareness, knowledge, and perception of menopause and menopause hormone therapy (MHT) among premenopausal females from Jordan.

Methods

A cross-sectional study including females aged 20–40 years (n = 450) was conducted from November 2018 to March 2019 in two hospitals in Irbid, Jordan. A structured questionnaire was developed based on previous literature and using the Green Climacteric Scale to assess participants’ knowledge and awareness of signs and symptoms of menopause and MHT. Data were collected by face-to-face interview. Factors associated with the degree of menopausal knowledge were identified.

Results

The mean ± standard deviation age of participants was 29.1 ± 6.3 years. More than half of participants were knowledgeable about several aspects of menopause. Education to college or more was significantly and positively associated with knowledge about menopause (β = 0.504, p = 0.005). The majority of participants did not know the roles, benefits, and risks of MHT. There was an almost equal distribution for participants’ positive (47.6%) and negative (50%) attitudes toward menopause.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that premenopausal females in Jordan are knowledgeable about various aspects of menopause. Nevertheless, there is still a need to develop educational programs and implement proper counseling to improve young females’ awareness about menopause, particularly its health implications and treatment options.

摘要

背景:更年期是女性生活中一个自然的重要转变。年轻时对更年期有足够的了解和认识, 对于妇女更好地应对其相关后果和改善其幸福至关重要。

目的:本研究评估了约旦绝经前女性对绝经和绝经激素治疗(MHT)的认知、知识和看法。

方法:2018年11月至2019年3月, 在约旦伊尔比德的两家医院进行了一项包括20-40岁女性(n = 450)的横断面研究。基于以前的文献并使用更年期量表, 开发了一个结构化问卷, 以评估参与者对绝经和MHT症状和体征的知识和认识。数据是通过面对面访谈收集的。确定了与绝经知识程度相关的因素。

结果:受试者的平均标准差年龄为29.1±6.3岁。超过一半的参与者了解绝经的几个方面。大专以上学历与更年期知识显著正相关(β=0.504, p =0.005)。大多数参与者不知道MHT的角色、好处和风险。参与者对绝经的积极态度(47.6%)和消极态度(50%)的分布几乎相等。

结论:研究结果表明, 约旦的绝经前女性对绝经的各个方面都很了解。然而, 仍然有必要制定教育计划和实施适当的咨询, 以提高年轻女性对绝经的认识, 特别是其健康影响和治疗的选择。

Keywords:

• Knowledge
• premenopausal women
• menopause
• menopause hormone therapy
• Jordan

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all participants of the survey.

Potential conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Jordan University of Science and Technology [grant number 520/2018].