Journal of Health Science and Medical Research (JHSMR) (Aug 2008)
Health status, menopausal symptoms, and health promotion behaviors among professional nurses during periods of pre-menopause and menopause at Songklanagarind Hospital
Abstract
The purposes of this descriptive research were to: 1) explore the health status of professional nurses during periods of pre-menopause and menopause, 2) investigate menopausal symptoms of professional nurses during periods of pre-menopause and menopause, 3) assess knowledge of professional nurses during periods of pre-menopause and menopause, and 4) assess the health promotion behaviors of professional nurses during periods of pre-menopause and menopause. The sample consisted of 153 professional nurses during periods of pre-menopause and menopause, ranging in age from 40 to 56 years old who were employed at Songklanagarind Hospital. The results revealed: 1. 61.4% of the subjects reported having good health and 29.4% of the subjects reported having very good health. 2. A majority of the subjects reported that they did not have menopausal symptoms (44.4%- 95.4%). However, some professional nurses reported that they had menopausal symptoms and were emotionally irritable including: uterine incontinence and having residual urine (1.3%-4.6%), vaginal dryness, vagina irritability and itching, parleukorrhea, and lower abdominal pain (0.7%-4.6%), back pain (17%), muscle pain (15%), excitability, tension, fatigue, and constant drowsiness (3.3%- 6.5%). 3. 70.6% of the subjects reported that they had a moderate level of knowledge about menopause. 4. The nurses' overall health promotion behavior as perceived by the nurses was either good (47.1%) or very good (45.8%). The results showed that a majority of the subjects reported that they had "very good" health promotion behavior in three aspects: development in social support (73.2%); practice for achieving their life goals (69.3%), and nutrition (63.4%). The results suggest that progressive organizations should provide additional health care services and facilitate more health-promoting behaviors among professional nurses during periods of pre-menopause and menopause.
