The impact of complementary and alternative medical approaches to menopause symptoms implemented by postmenopausal women on their quality of life

ABSTRACT The Impact Of Complementary And Alternative Medical Approaches To Menopause Symptoms Implemented By Postmenopausal Women On Their Quality Of Life This is a descriptive study aiming to determine the complementary and alternative treatment methods implemented by women in the postmenopausal period to address menopausal symptoms and identify the impact of these methods on their quality of life. The study sample consists of 270 women who visited the Turgut Ozal University Hospital Menopause Polyclinic. The data was collected using the Individual Information Form and the Life Quality Scale for Menopause, which were developed by the researcher based on literature knowledge. Data analysis was conducted by using average, frequency, percentage, chi-square, the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction. The average age of the participant women is 54±5.0. The most common menopausal symptoms among the women were hot flashes (86.9%), sweating (82.1%) and vaginal dryness/dyspareunia (81.7%). It has been demonstrated in many studies that these menopausal symptoms are more intense in housewives, the elderly, those taking medication regularly, those for whom surgery caused the onset of menopause, those not receiving any hormone therapy and those with a surgical history. It has also been proven that there was a decrease in life quality for these groups of women (p<0.05). This study found that the rate of CAM use was 62.2%. Women most frequently turn to methods like soybeans (50%), black bugbane (28.9%), herbal tea (11.2%), acupuncture (39.7%) and hydrotherapy (10.3%). It was determined that those with a maternal history and receiving hormone therapy were more inclined to implementing CAM (p<0.05). It was also found that those implementing CAM had more rare menopausal symptoms and had a higher quality of life (p<0.05). The research outcomes indicate that more than half of the participant women implement CAM; however, they do not seek enough information on this issue from healthcare professionals. It is suggested that menopausal women receive education, consultancy and take on further activities as menopausal symptoms are proved to be better-controlled through CAM. Keywords: Complementary and alternative treatment, Menopause, quality of life.