Postmenopausal Health Maintenance Among Zagazig University Employees; Gap Between Reality and Expectation

Eltwansy, Maha; Abdelsalam, Amira

doi:10.21608/ejcm.2023.218971.1262

Postmenopausal Health Maintenance Among Zagazig University Employees; Gap Between Reality and Expectation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Maha Eltwansy ¹
amira abdelsalam ²

¹ Assisstant professor of public health and Community medicine faculty of medicine zagazig university zagazig Egypt

² assisstant professor of public health and community medicine, faculty of medicine,Z agazig University. Egypt

10.21608/ejcm.2023.218971.1262

Abstract

Background: Postmenopausal women experience many physical, psychological and social problems that affect their quality of life. The objectives of the current study were to identify the most common postmenopausal symptoms, to assess the actions taken by women to maintain their postmenopausal health and to examine the barriers against maintaining postmenopausal health. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from March to May 2023. Two hundred thirty-eight postmenopausal females were included in the study. Menopause rating scale and a structured questionnaire were used to identify the most common health problems, healthy actions and barriers against adopting them. Results: The most common health disorders reported by the examined women were joint and muscular discomfort (97.1%), followed by physical and mental exhaustion (95%) and sleep problems (93.7%). The severity of symptoms ranged between severe to very severe in more than half of the sample. The main actions taken to maintain a healthy postmenopausal life were measuring blood pressure (78.2%), followed by diabetes mellitus follow up (77.7%) and measuring lipid profile (75.6%). Regular influenza vaccination was received by 33% of participants. Cancer screening was done by approximately one third of the participants, mainly breast cancer screening. The main barriers reported were low income (71%), unavailability of health services (67.6%) and lack of knowledge (67.2%). Conclusions: The majority of postmenopausal women complain of joint and muscle pain, physical and mental exhaustion and sleep problems. Most of the recommended preventive practices were not followed. There is a need for increasing women awareness and providing accessible services.

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