Health Seeking Behaviour of Women with Menopausal Symptoms in Tampin, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Abstract

Background and Aims: The mean age of the menopause studied in Malaysia was 50.7 years. There are a lot of women suffering from menopausal symptoms and it is important to every woman to be conscious about the consequences of menopause. This study aimed to determine the prevalence the menopausal symptoms, health-seeking behavior of women with menopausal symptoms and the factors influencing the health-seeking behaviors to enhance quality of life. Materials and methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive analysis conducted among perimenopause and post-menopausal women living in Tampin, Malaysia from February 2020 to July 2020 by using questionnaire which includes Part A of sociodemographic data, Part B of Menopause Rating Scale and Part C of Health-Seeking Behavior and treatment options. Results: Among 203 recruitments, perimenopause and postmenopausal women are 45.8% and 54.2% respectively. There are Malays (34.5%), Indians (34.0%), and Chinese (31.5%).  Perimenopause women experience severe hot flushes and sweating (65.6%) while postmenopausal women experience severe heart discomfort (50.0%). The study shows 58.6% of them are seeking medical advice while 41.4% do not seek any medical advice for their menopausal symptoms. They consulted mostly from general practitioners (28.6%), secondly from traditional leader (23.5%) and thirdly from pharmacist (19.3%). There is a significant association found between health-seeking behavior with education level, occupation, and household income. Conclusion: Overall low education, household income, and occupation were found to impact on their health-seeking behavior. Improved awareness and better access to health services can improve health-seeking behavior.