Can Menopausal Education Enhance Marital Satisfaction of Middle-Aged Men?

Abstract

Background: The lack of knowledge about menopausal care in couples and inappropriate coping with menopause symptoms can reduce the couples' quality of the marital relationship. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the knowledge and ability of men to prevent menopause destructive effects on marital relations and the well-being of the couples. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of men's menopausal care education on their marital satisfaction. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2019 among 80 men in Shiraz, Iran. The samples were randomly selected using cluster random sampling method; they were equally divided into control and intervention groups. Four training sessions were held for the intervention group. The data were collected using a questionnaire on the menopausal knowledge and the ENRICH-10 questionnaire at the beginning and two months after the intervention and analyzed using SPSS v. 25 and Amos v. 21. Results: Based on the results, at the beginning of the study, there was no significant difference in the mean score of the menopausal knowledge and marital satisfaction between the intervention and control groups (p<0.0001). However, men's menopausal knowledge and their marital satisfaction in the intervention group significantly increased. No significant increase was found in men's menopausal knowledge or their marital satisfaction in the control group. Conclusion: Education can increase the men's ability to cope with menopausal symptoms. Therefore, providing family health counseling services in health centers and family counseling is recommended.

Keywords

• menopause
• postmenopause
• health education
• family conflict
• iran