Examination of midlife women's attitudes toward menopause in Turkey

This study used a cross-sectional descriptive design to examine the attitudes of 154 Turkish women aged = 40 years towards menopause. A questionnaire and the Menopause Attitudes scale were used. The mean score of the attitudes was determined as 34.70 +/- 8.56. Most women in the study had negative attitudes towards menopause. The majority of women with positive attitudes were older, well educated and had used hormone replacement therapy (P < 0.05). Using multiple linear regression analysis, age and education level were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001). A statistically significant difference was found between the women in the premenopausal and menopausal years in terms of sexuality after menopause (P < 0.05). This study suggests that Turkish women 40 years and older have negative attitudes towards menopause and their primary concern in the premenopausal period is sexuality after menopause. Counseling of women on menopause-related issues in gynecology clinics is recommended.