Menopausal symptoms and health-promoting lifestyle behaviors among women in Tanta, Egypt: An analytic cross-sectional study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Public Health and Community Medicine Dept., Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University

2 Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Dept., Faculty of Nursing, Tanta University

Abstract

Background: Although menopause is a normal physiologic stage of women’s life, a considerable proportion of them are likely to experience various symptoms during this period. Menopausal symptoms could adversely affect the physical, mental, and social well-being of menopausal women. Objectives: To study the relationship between health promoting life style behaviors and menopausal symptoms among Egyptian women. Participants and Methods: Two hundred menopausal women were recruited randomly from all attendees presented to outpatients’ clinics of Tanta University Hospital. For all participants, socio-demographic, medical profile, Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) and Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), were assessed through self-administered questionnaire or personal interview. Results: The average of total Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II score was moderate among the studied menopausal women (120.38±16.63), with the highest scores of its subscales were for “Spiritual” domain followed by “Interpersonal Relations” and the lowest scores were for “Physical Activity” and “Health-responsibility” subscales. A significant negative statistical correlation was found between health-promoting lifestyle behaviors scores (total and subscales), and menopausal symptoms. Factors (as age, educational level, income, marital status, and occupation), had significant statistical association with health-promoting behaviors. Conclusion and recommendations: Health promoting behavior correlated negatively with menopausal symptoms in the participating women. Health education programs about health-promoting lifestyle behaviors could reduce women’s menopausal symptoms and improving their quality of life.

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