title: Menopause experiences and attitudes in women with intellectual disability and in their family carers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about how middle-aged and older women with intellectual disability (ID) cope with life transitions such as perimenopause and postmenopause.
  
  
  METHODS
  A mixed methods approach was employed to explore the attitudes toward and experiences of menopause among women with ID and their family carers in one city in Taiwan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A survey found that how the carers perceived the level of menopausal symptoms in their female family members with ID was affected by their attitudes toward menopause; and carer age and education were significant factors associated with carer menopausal attitudes. The results of in-depth interviews indicated the carers' gender, age, kinships with the women with ID, and the carers' own menopausal experiences were related to how the carers felt about the menopausal transition of the women with ID.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both quantitative and qualitative findings show that little attention has been paid to either the menopausal transition experiences or the wellbeing of women with ID.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Welfare Policy, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. choucyc@ym.edu.tw
authors.forename: Yueh-Ching
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Zxy-Yann Jane
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Cheng-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Pu
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008593:Menopause / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan