Medicalization of female life stages: A qualitative study

Seeing or treating conditions that were not considered a disease in the past, now as a concern, problem, or disorder is called medicalization. In this study; It is aimed to evaluate medicalization according to the life stages of women (menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, assisted reproductive techniques, abortion, menopause, aesthetics and aging) with a specialist physician (Gynecology and Obstetrics, Aesthetic and Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, Dermatology) and a woman's point of view. For this purpose, the experiences of women and then a holistic description that defines the essence of these experiences has been put forward. Again, the opinions of the physicians participating in the study about their fields of specialization and the medicalization process are included. The study is in the form of qualitative research and is in the phenomenology pattern. 15 specialist physicians involved in female life stages in Turkey (Gynecology and Obstetrics Specialist, Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery specialist, Dermatology specialist) and 15 female participants over the age of 18 (with any experience in female life stages) constitute the sample of the study. . Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. As a result of the content analysis of the collected data; The opinions of the participants about medicalization were discussed as "The Causes of Medicalization" and two sub-themes belonging to this theme were determined. These; "Internal Causes of Medication" and "External Causes of Medication". The sub-theme of internal causes of medicalization was formed by evaluating the factors towards women that led to the medicalization of women's life. Among the factors that lead to the medicalization of women's life, the factors that do not depend on the women themselves were evaluated, and the sub-theme of external causes of medicalization was formed. As a result of this study; Physicians think that the medicalization of women's life is a vital necessity, that education, socio-cultural structure, environmental impact, social beauty perception and social media are the most important factors affecting women's behaviors, and that the main reason for medicalization is often the patient's preference, not the physician. The female participants are; points out social media as one of the most important reasons for medicalization. They point out factors such as medical indication, social perception of beauty, health concern, aesthetic concern, unnecessary examination and treatment request by physicians, and physician referral as reasons for medicalization. Keywords: Life Stages of Women, Medicalization, Physician, Woman