The Relationship between the Attitudes towards Menopause and Sexual Functions among Women in the Climacteric Period, Turkey

An investigation of the attitudes towards menopause is considered to help to understand the menopausal period better in order to plan more comprehensive health promotion approaches.  This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the attitudes towards menopause and sexual functions among women in the climacteric period.

This cross-sectional study was conducted between the 1st May 2019 and the 1st January 2020 in Turkey. The study was completed with 153 women in climadteric period, who were selected using the simple random sampling method. Data were collected through the socio-demographic questionnaire, the Attitude towards Menopause Questionnaire (ATMQ), and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation test.

Themean scores of ATMQ and FSFI were found 34.39±12.30 and 20.05±9.18, respectively. The ATMQ indicated positive, and significant relationship with all FSFI sub-scales and total scores (p <0.05).A significant difference was found between the FSFI scores and age, age at first marriage, presence of a chronic disease, duration of the marriage, number of births, number of pregnancies, and the features of the menopausal period (p <0.05); however, these variables did not indicate significant relationships with the ATMQ scores (p>0.05).

The results showed that two-thirds of the participating women had negative attitudes towards menopause, and increased negative attitudes of women affected their sexual functions, negatively. It is recommended to design health promotion programs and counseling services to promote positive attitude towards menopause in women in the climacteric period.