A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Knowledge of Postmenopausal Symptoms and its Management Among Women at Selected Areas in Thrissur

Menopause is a normal natural event, a change of life; usually confirmed when a woman has missed her periods for 12 consecutive months. As a nurse, we should help the women to accept the changes and develop a positive attitude towards menopause thereby ensuring that every women in the society will live in harmony during their old age. Therefore a study to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge of postmenopausal symptoms and its management among women at selected areas in Thrissur was done. The samples were 40 women, selected by purposive sampling from various areas, Thrissur. The objectives of the study was to assess the level of knowledge on postmenopausal problems and its management, to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on postmenopausal symptoms and its management and to associate the level of pre test knowledge score with selected demographic variables. Pre-experimental one group pre-test-post-test design was used in the study. The data was collected by administering structured questionnaire followed by structured teaching programme on postmenopausal symptoms and its management. After 7 days, post test was done to assess the effectiveness of STP. The statistical analysis of the data shows that 50% of women had moderate knowledge and STP was effective in improving the knowledge of the women as the 't' value of 10.278 is greater than the table value at p<0.01. It was found that there is no association between pretest knowledge and selected demographic variables. The study concluded that there is a need to educate the common public about the menopausal problems and its management to cope up with it. Background and Purpose: Menopausal changes mostly depend on the individual makeup and her previous outlook towards menopause and its significance. Many studies are not conducted in India in this area, so there is a need for this study because generally Indian women do not correlate these symptoms as being due to menopause and the knowledge and scientific data on menopausal symptoms experienced by the Indian women is sparse. It is important therefore to address all the menopausal related disease and prophylactic measures so that these women can lead an enjoyable and healthy life. Many Indian women though still educated have doubts related to managing menopause and the increased health risk during this period. It is important to encourage schools and other educational institutions, medical care providers and health department to cooperate in educating women about menopause, its symptoms, long term consequences and treatment options. This combined effort by educational programs and health care providers will help in increasing public awareness. This may result in significant improvement in both life expectancy and quality of life of women in future. The researcher felt that it is essential to ensure that a women understands that the menopause represents a change of life and not an end of life and by educating the women they will be able influence and disseminate it to others.

Objective:

* To assess the level of knowledge on postmenopausal symptoms and its management among women

* To assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on postmenopausal symptoms and its management among women.

* To associate the level of pre-test knowledge score and selected demographic variables.

Design: A one group pre-test post-test design was used

Settings: The study was conducted at various areas in Thrissur, Kerala.

Samples: In this study samples were various women in the age group of 30-55 years at selected areas of Thrissur. Sample size was 40 and study samples were selected by purposive sampling.

Result: The study was done among 60 menopausal women in the age of 30 to 55. The pre-test knowledge showed that 56.7% had moderately adequate knowledge, 41.7% had inadequate knowledge and 1.6% had adequate knowledge on menopause.

Conclusion: Menopause is a great time to change. Many women experience a new found sense of freedom and anticipate personal growth. It was concluded that structured teaching programme was effective in improving the knowledge of women. The pretest knowledge on postmenopausal problems and its management is not significantly associated with variables like age, monthly income, number of elder females in the family, whether menopause attained or no and source of information.