The perception of menopause in relation to context of presentation

Objective: The aim of the study was to find out whether gender and the way menopause is conceptualised might affect opinions on menopause and the perception of this event.
Subjects and methods: The sample consisted of 300 subjects, both males and females in 3 age groups: 18-35 yrs, 36-50 yrs, 51 yrs and more. The menopause was presented with two other events in a medical (with broken leg and stomach ulcer), life transition (with puberty and leaving parental home) and aging (with retirement and grey hair) context. A purposely designed questionnaire was used to collect opinions, both on positive and on negative aspects of every event. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the contexts.
Results: The findings indicated that only in the medical context menopause was described more positively than other two events. When negative aspects were considered the menopause was perceived more negatively than other two events. The age and the level of education were not related to the perception of menopause. Subjects’ gender was found to be related to their perception – women perceived menopause more negatively than men, especially when menopause was presented in the context of aging. Univariate and mulitvariate analyses revealed that menopause was evaluated most positively when presented in the context of the life transition.
Conclusion: Results suggest that in doctor – patient communication menopause should be presented as a life transition period and not as an indicator of aging.