Effect of feelings of guilt and shame on life quality of women in menopause

Current study was conducted between September 2014–January 2015 in Gaziantep, Şehitkamil, Şirinevler district. Purpose of the study was to measure changes experienced, point of view on menopause, and life style of women who are older than 40, living in Şirinevler, and within post-menopause and how these factors effected their feelings of guilt and shame. Research is descriptive-cross-sectional. Out of universe consisting of 800 women, 500 participants have joined the study. Data collected by Personal Information Form, Guilt-Shame Scales and WHOQOL-BREF Life Quality Scales. IBM SPSS 18 was used to conduct statistical analysis. Analysis indicated that 46.6% of the participants were between 49-54 years of age, 78.6% of the participants was not literate, 60.4% of the participants were within post-menopause for 1 to 5 years, 49.2% of the participants had their last menstruation between 45 to 49 years of age, 37.8% of the participants were was subjected to domestic violence. 55% of the participants declared menopause as a predicament, 45.4% as a disease and 56% as infertility. Results of scales were as follows; guilt factor 48,95±0,37, shame factor 44,89±0,27, body 10,64±0,42, mental 10,96±0,39, social 11,12±0,49, environment 10,84±0,37. No significant correlation found between Guilt: Body, Mental, Social, and Environmental area (p<0,05). It was found that there was a significant correlation between the thought that menopause is not a bad thing and the perceived guilt (p<0,001). Results of analyses indicate that information about menopause significantly correlates between perceived guilt (p<0,05). Current study found that as perceived shame and guilt increases, the life quality of the sample decreases and the average life quality of the sample was below average.