• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.5-17
• /
• 1989

The purpose of this study was to investigate the natural menopause age of middle-aged women in Korea and to analyse various factors affecting them. For the collection of date, 1,140 women aged between 45-54 were selected through stratified sampling technics in Seoul and at a rual area in Kyong KiProvince. They were interviewed from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31,1987 by use of questionnaires made after pilot study had been performed twice. Among them the final subjects for analysis were restricted to only those who had experienced menopause or irregular menstruation during the past one year, the number of which was total 410:206 in urban and 204 in rural area. For the analysis, menopause age was used as dependent variables while fertility variables, socio-economic variables, bio-physical varibles, and insight of life variables were classified as independent variables. Dependent variables such as menopause was tested and analysed by descriptive statistical methods(e.g., frequency, percentage, mean, $X^2-test.$ t-test, ANOVA). The relation between menopause age and independent variables was analysed by use of Pearson's correlation coefficients. For the analysis of various factors affecting menopause age, multiple stepwise regression method was used. The obtained results are summarized as follows: 1. The natural menopause age of Korean women were 47.2 mean age: it was 47.7 and 46.7 mean age in urban and rural area respectively, which revealed that the former was later then the latter by one year. And the recollective error on menopause starting age between the menopause group and the group who had experienced irregular menstruation during the past one year was 0.4-0.7 year. 2. The main factors affecting the menopause age were (1) the duration of marital life, (2) the duration of oral pill use, (3) insight of life and economic status, (4) educational background. (5) menarche, (6) usual menstruation amount, (7) electic charge. and (8) area. These factors. altogether, could explain $18.4\%$ of factors related with menopause, and they took the high percentage in the order mentioned.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.120-123
• /
• 1996

Regarding menopause as a turning point in woman's lift, the author reviewed the psychosocial aspects of menopause. Seeing menstruation as the symbolic meaning of female sexuality, psychoanalysts argue that menopause, the loss of symbolic meaning of female sexuality, may bring a mourning reaction to woman. It is reported that the high ratio of depression does not have a serious relationship with the menopause syndrome, and that depression cannot be viewed as a different symptoms. It is also proved that most women successfully recover themselves from temporary menopause symptom. Research data shows that some women have a negative thought on the meaning of menopause. Others, however, have a positive concept on the meaning of menopause because of the feeling of release and freedom. In sum, the author suggests that psychosocial consideration is very important as much as bilogical consideration in considering the meaning of menopausal syndrome.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.83-92
• /
• 2023

Purpose: This study aims to compare and analyze the changes in the physical and mental health status of middle-aged women before and after menopause and their quality of life over the past 10 years. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted by using secondary data from the 4th and 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) involving middle-aged women in menopause (N=8,363). Data were analyzed using the complex sample x² test. Results: Compared to 10 years ago, notable changes were observed in general characteristics. These included increase in age, education level, economic activity, and urban residency. In addition, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, a decrease in smoking, and a decline in regular exercise. The study also observed changes in obesity rates and an increase in dyslipidemia and stress levels, along with positive changes across all aspects of quality of life. Conclusion: The results indicate temporal changes in general characteristics, major physical and mental health factors, and the quality of life of middle-aged women in menopause. Thus, it is essential to consider these changes when designing health interventions such as health promotions and education initiatives for middle-aged women experiencing menopause. Further research is necessary for identifying factors influencing the quality of life of middle-aged women in menopause.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.96-99
• /
• 2002

Menopause, the cessation of menstruation caused by the decline in estrogen production, occurs in 95% of women between 40 and 60 years. Sleep disturbance is a frequent complaint during the perimenopause period. In contrast to premenopausla women, menopausal women experience more reduction in the total sleep hours and report more sleep disturbances, such as insomnia, noctiria and sleep disordered breathing. But the prevalence, etiology and treatment of sleep disturbances in menopause are still controversal. So further investigations are required to elucidate the factors that account for the differences in sleep disturbance between premenopausal and postmenopausal women. There are suggestive data that estrogen and progesterone deficiency may increase the susceptibility for sleep disorder in menopause. Furthermore, there are suggestive evidence from observational studies and a limited number of randomized, controlled trials that hormone replacement therapy after menopause improves sleep. However, the clinical relevance of hormone replacement therapy is unproved. So the overall benefit of hormonal replacement in postmenopausal women with sleep related disorders should be individualized to avoid potential side effects. Several studies evaluated the role of melatonin, because this hormone has effects on core body temperature & insomnia. But the exact dosage and the effects of long-term use of melatonin are unclear. So, caution is indicated in melatonin administration.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.150-155
• /
• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify the effect of aromatherapy program on lowering body mass index and serum estrogen in obese post-menopause women. Method: One group Pretest-posttest experimental design was used. All subjects received intervention of aromatherapy program. The participants used 3% grapefruit oil, cypress and three other kinds of oil. BMI and Serum estrogen level of the participants' were measured by ZEUS 9.9(Resource Medical, 2004) and PACKARD Gamma Counter-Cobra II RI Manual(USA, 1997) before and after interventions being applied at the P. hospital. Data were analyzed by paired t-test using the SPSS/PC+Win 12 Version. Result: The level of serum estrogen and BMI of the participants were significantly decreased after aromathetapy program. Conclusion: These results suggest that the effect of aromatheapy program could be utilized as an effective intervention to reduce BMI and serum estrogen level in obese post-menopause women.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.623-634
• /
• 1994

Although the average menopausal age has not changed, women's life span has increased. Today's women live longer after their menopause than those in the past, and this calls for attention in both nursing and medical fields. Many studies have revealed how women reacted to menopause and suffered from it. But they did not discriminate the menopausal meaning and effects from the climacteric phenomena. So, this author tried to clarify what menopause itself meant to the climacteric women, by means of grounded theory methodology. The interviewees were 21 women, whose ages were between 46 and 60 years. They were selected by theoretical sampling technique, and the author tried to include all levels of important variables such as age, educational background, religion and job. Data were collected by the author through in -depth interviews and observations in July, 1994. The interviews were mostly done in the homes of the subjects, or in some cases at the author's office or in a hospital. Interviews took from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed later by a research assistant. Data were analyzed as gathered, by the constant comparative method proposed by Strauss and Corbin. Eleven concepts were discovered from the data, and they were grouped under six higher order categories. These six categories were "to give menopause a meaning", "to experience value change", "to have self-help strategies", "to have no strategies", "to live a life worth living", "to have a sense of powerlessness" Among these "to experionce value change" was . selected as the core category. Five major categories were systematically integrated around the core category. Women's adaptation to menopause was defined as proceeding as follows : Most women felt relief and sorrow at the same time when they faced menopause, and some only sorrow or agony. Then, they consulted with others about menopausal symptoms, or tried to think of them by themselves. Finally, they gave menopause a meaning, which was that menopause and its symptoms were natural phenomena. But menopause made women reflect on them-selves and their past lives. As they reflected on themselves, their value on life began to change. As their value changed, some women seeked self help strategies. Those self help strategies were what they had learned from collegues, professionals or mass media. The quality of their lives depended on whether they practiced self help strategies or not. Three types of lives were found. Twelve women enjoyed a life worth living, and practiced the self help strategies, because they accepted menopause a chance to change. They were characterized by a high educational level, having a professional job and a sincere faith in God. Seven women were living as usual, because they did not have the necessity to change. They were high school graduates and house wives. Two women recognized menopause a chance to change, but they did not try self help strategies. Their characteristic was low educational level. Those who did not try self help strategies complained of powerlessness to varying degrees. The educational background, full-time jobs and faith helped women adapt to menopause positively. But social support was not helpful to women's adaptation to menepause. Three hypotheses were derived from the analysis. (1) The higher the educational level, the more theneed to change. (2) Women with higher educational background will practice self help strategies more than those with lower edcational background. (3) The more women practice self help strategies, the worthier lives they will live. Suggestions for further studies are as follows. (1) Studies to test hypotheses are needed. (2) A study to find the relationship between the degree of practicing self help strategies and locus of control. (3) Spiritual approaches would better be applied to help menopausal women. (4) Education through mass media should be given mere frequently.

• 모자간호학회지
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.70-86
• /
• 1992

What is the meaning of menopause experienced by urban Korean women? Nurses need an under standing of menopause as it is experienced by women themselves. Nursing needs to build knowledge of womens' health experiences. This phenomenological study examined what menopause means to modern Korean woman to build a structure of knowledge useful for practice to enhance the quality of life of women throughout this experience. Traditional definition of menopause according to physiological changes, as illness and more recently as psychosociocultural phenomena were examined along with the folk lore information generally available in the society A review of the research and scientific literature was done from the perspectives of four models including the medical model of menopause as disease, the psychosocial model as positive and negative behavioral responses to menopause, a feminist model of menopause as a time of rebirth and a nursing model of the changing patterns of meaning, rythms and transformation women experience through menopause. Van Kaam's method was used to analyse data audio-recorded during interviews by the investigator with 65 women, 40 to 60 years of agey whose confidentility was assured. Interpretation of the data was enhanced luther by consultation with professional colleugues and with informants. Four rhythmical patterns of process emerged : from suffering to comfort, from oppression to freedom from being a good wife and wise mother to becoming a woman and from a hard life to an abundant life. The detailed common elements making up each of the four patterns and definitions of each pattern were presented. Each pattern was discussed critically from the point of view of medical, psychosociocultural, womens' and nursing models. The structural definition of the synthesis of the four process patterns was stated as : in spite of suffering the middle-aged urban Korean woman find she is able to help herself to feel comfortable and to realize release as she moves from oppression to liberation and freedom from being a good wife and wise mother she experiences rebirth as a woman : she begins to live a profitable and valuable life : her life becomes one of transformed abundant living. The definition transcends the medical and phychosociocultural model to embody a nursing model. The analysis was critiqued by using Parse' Human Becomming theory of nursing because the emerging themes were process patterns. Parse' theory provides and explanation of the experience of menopause consistant with the data which enhances nursing understanding of womens' experience of menopause. Parse' practice methodology provide guidance for promoting womens' quality of life throughout the experience of menopause. Feminist analysis contributes valuable critique to nursing research, richly expanding the perspective from traditional approaches to promote understanding of the meaning of womens' health experiences.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.85-91
• /
• 2015

Objectives: Postmenopausal symptoms are subject to many factors. Recently, obesity has been suggested as a factor of hot flush. So this study aims to report the relationship between body composition and Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), The Menopause-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) of postmenopausal women. Methods: We studied 42 climacteric women who had visited Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong from April 2011 to July 2014. 42 women had filled out MRS, MENQOL, and they had taken body composition tests. Pearson correlation tests were conducted. (Correlation was statistically significant at the 0.05 level) Results: Correlation between psychological subscale of MENQOL and Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) was statistically significant (pearson correlation coefficient=0.385; p-value=0.012). But other subscales of MRS and MENQOL were not statistically related with body composition. Conclusions: WHR could be an important factor of psychological health of menopausal women. So, abdominal fat reduction must be considered when curing menopausal symptoms. In connection with climacteric depression, well-designed studies would be necessary.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.129-137
• /
• 1996

The purpose of this study is to examine the medicalizing process of menopanse with literature review, and then is to explore the knowledge of 'menopausal syndrome' critically, focused on four critics on the biomedical model which were suggested by Mishler. Although menopause is a natural biological phenomenon, the view of many medical researchers and practitioners is that menopause is a disease. After synthetic estrogen was developel in 1938, physicians did agree on two basic assumptions : menopausal women should be managed by physicians, and medical intervention should be given. Menopouse was defined as a deficiency disease (estrogen difficiency) by Wilson in 60's and is redefined as a cause of disease(for example, osteoporosis, heart disease) at the present. But the other view of non-medical researcher is that 'menopausal syndrome' as a disease is constructed medically. It was reported that Only hot flush and sweating of physical symptoms experienced by menopausal women, were associated with menopause. Symptoms of menopausal syndrome are also related with symptons of aging. So, it cann't conclude that menopausal syndrome is resulted from menopause, and it cann't be only explained that menopausal syndrome is related causally to estrogen deficiency, and only treatment by ERT or HRT is best relevant. It cann't assume that menopausal syndrome is a common phenomenon to all menopause women, because culture affected on women's experience of menopause.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.214-227
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study was aimed at investigating the incidence and risk factors of dyslipidemia in menopausal women using a Korean community-based longitudinal study. Methods: The subjects were 245 postmenopausal women without dyslipidemia who had participated in the Ansan-Ansung cohort study from 2001~2002 (baseline) to 2015~2016 (seventh follow-up visit). The dyslipidemia incidence was measured as incidence proportion (%) and incidence rate per 100 person-years. The predictors of developing dyslipidemia were analyzed with Cox's proportional hazard model. Results: The incidence of new dyslipidemia during the follow-up period was 78.4% (192 patients), and 11.9 per 100 person-years. Mean duration from menopause to developing dyslipidemia was 5.3 years in new dyslipidemia cases. The triglyceride/high density lipoprotein (TG/HDL-C) ratio at baseline (hazard ratio = 2.20; 95% confidence interval = 1.39~3.48) was independently associated with developing dyslipidemia. Conclusion: Dyslipidemia occurs frequently in postmenopausal women, principally within five years after menopause. Therefore, steps must be taken to prevent dyslipidemia immediately after menopause, particularly in women with a high TG/HDL-C ratio at the start of menopause.