Black women in menopausal transition.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the experience of menopausal symptoms of midlife Black women in the United States.

DESIGN

Qualitative online forum using a feminist perspective.

SETTING

Internet communities for midlife women and Blacks.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty midlife Black women recruited using a quota sampling method.

METHODS

A 6-month online forum was conducted with seven discussion topics on menopausal symptoms. The discussion topics were posted sequentially on the forum site, and the women posted messages at their convenience over 6 months. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The identified themes were raised to be strong, accepting a natural aging process, silent and without knowledge, and our own experience. The women tried to be strong during their menopausal transitions while dealing with other important family matters. The women did not report their menopausal symptoms and were silent about or downplayed their symptoms, but many emphasized the importance of education about menopausal symptoms and highlighted their own lack of knowledge. These women generally did not talk about their symptoms because they believed that nobody except other Black midlife women could understand their menopausal experience.

CONCLUSION

Health care providers need to develop a mechanism to deliver the necessary knowledge about menopausal symptoms and management strategies to Black midlife women in their health care practices.