Women’s Experience on Menopause - A Qualitative Study

Background: Menopause is the point, where a woman has gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. It is a natural part of aging and marks the end of reproductive years. While transition to menopause, women may be experiencing some or all of the symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness etc. which may affect their day-to-day life leading to decrease in the quality of life. Objective: To study the experience of women during menopause. Materials and Methods: Through purposive sampling 20 women were selected who experienced menopause. They were in the age group between 41 to 60 years. The study was conducted in Suthanthirapuram Panchayat, Mettupalayam, Coimbatore. Data was collected by adopting semi-structured interview method. The duration of study was one month. Collected data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s analysis method. Results: Four (04) themes emerged from the findings, which are: affects health, affects work, Emotional wellbeing and loss of woman hood. Further there were psychological encounters such as mood swings, anger, depression and emotionally detached with others. They had experiences in health issue such as hot flashes, palpitation, night sweat and sleep disturbances. Conclusion: Results evidence that health care practitioners should give advice in order to maximize assistance for women during this developmental phase. Health care needs to be personal and tailored to the individual needs, preferences and expectations of women, with due regard to social and cultural contexts. Coping strategies should be developed to enable women who are struggling to manage the psychological impact of menopause Key words: Menopause, Hot flashes, Menstruation, quality of life, mood swings