The Menopause Chronicles: A Dive into Nigerian Women's Perceptions at a Tertiary Care Center

Abstract

Due to medical advances, women's lifespans have increased, making menopause an issue of the 20th and 21st centuries. In 1960, less than 250 million women were over 60, but by 2030, 1.2 billion will be peri or postmenopausal, increasing by 4.7 million a year. Post menopause now accounts for one third of the average developed woman's life. Because of these predicted population structure changes, physicians are beginning to see menopause as a major public health issue. In developing nations like Nigeria, sociocultural and socioeconomic factors strongly influence menopause perception. In Nigeria, reproduction is shrouded in silence. Puberty, sex, condom use, contraception, and menopause are covered. The study was descriptive. The study recruited 270 adult female patients (>18 years) from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital using simple random sampling, proportionate sampling, and systematic random sampling. A pre-tested, anonymous, validated questionnaire was administered by an interviewer. Data was entered and analyzed using IBM-SPSS version 25 statistical software. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were performed. The significance level for all statistical tests was 5%. Using a 100% scoring system, the mean knowledge score of the respondents was 59.42 ± 19.92, and 52.1 percent had good knowledge. Using the same scoring system, the mean attitude score was 57.12 ± 9.03 and 47.5 percent had good attitudes. 61.6 percent had a good perception score of 65.54 ± 21.91. Menopause knowledge also correlated with age and education (p<0.05). Menopause perception was linked to education. The study found that Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital adult female patients had good knowledge, fair attitudes, and good perceptions of menopause. 51 percent of respondents had tertiary education, which may explain this.