Attitudes of Bahraini women towards the menopause: implications for health care policy.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the attitudes of Bahraini women aged 30-64 years towards the menopause and to examine the relationship between attitudes of Bahraini women towards menopause and their sociodemographic data and reproductive characteristics.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study of 260 Bahraini women attending primary health care centers was conducted. A multistage stratified and clustered random sampling technique was used. The women were interviewed using a questionnaire composed of Attitude Towards Menopause scale and sociodemographics.


RESULTS
The mean+/-S.D. of women's age and age at menopause were 45.04+/-9.43 and 48.67+/-2.92 years, respectively. Respondents' median age and median age at menopause were 45.5 and 48.0 years, respectively. Almost half of the women (48.5%) had completed high school or diploma, and 41.5% were currently employed outside home. Over half of the women (53.5%) were premenopausal, 19.6% perimenopausal and 26.9% were postmenopausal. The Mean Average Attitude Score (MAAS)+/-S.D. was 2.4+/-0.26 where the minimum score is 1 indicating very negative attitudes and the maximum is 4 indicating very positive attitudes. Statistically significant differences in means were noted among categories of educational level, menopausal status, and marital status. Moreover, MAAS was positively correlated with age of respondents. Premenopausal women had more negative attitudes towards menopause than peri- or postmenopausal women.


CONCLUSIONS
Bahraini women display a considerable range of attitudes towards the menopause, with their general attitudes ranging from neutral to positive. Postmenopausal women had more positive attitudes towards menopause than premenopausal women. Implications for health care policy were explored in this study.
Jassim
Ghufran Ahmed
GA
Arabian Gulf University, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Department of Family & Community Medicine, Manama, Bahrain. ghufran.dr@gmail.com
Al-Shboul
Qasim
Q
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001445:Bahrain; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors