Women's knowledge and awareness on menopause symptoms and its treatment options remains inadequate: a report from the United Arab Emirates.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to evaluate the awareness, knowledge, and perception of middle-aged women regarding menopause and hormone therapy (HT).

METHODS

This observational study was conducted on pre-, peri-, post-, and surgically menopausal women (n = 591) from January 2020 until June 2020 in Dubai. A structured questionnaire was developed based on previous literature to assess participants' knowledge and awareness of menopause and HT. The questionnaire was implemented by face-to-face interview. Factors associated with the degree of menopausal knowledge were identified.

RESULTS

Majority (498, 82%) of participant women had fair to poor overall knowledge on menopause, did not know whom HT is used for (404, 48%), and for whom it is contradicted (455, 77%). Knowledge on menopause and HT was highly associated with better attitudes (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively).Furthermore, the greater the knowledge on menopause, the better the knowledge of HT (P < 0.001). Education was the primary factor that played a significant role in having better knowledge or attitudes. Nationality showed an association with better attitudes on menopause, with non-Arabs having better attitudes than Arabs and UAE nationals.

CONCLUSIONS

Community medicine educators and primary healthcare providers need to prepare tailored premenopausal and postmenopausal educational interventional programs for further educating women and preparing them for this phase of their lives.