A Comparative Study on Complaints of Menopausal Symptom of Nuns and Married Women

Yoo, Myung Sook

Abstract

The Purpose of this study is to extend the understanding and knowledge of menopause by comparing menopausal symptoms of married women and nuns in order to improve health and the quality of life for women. In this study a questionnaires were distributed to 116 nuns and 121 married women, from forty to fifty nine years old in Daegu metropolitan city. This study used the measurement of menopausal symptoms (Cronbach's Alpha=0.96) corrected and complemented by this student with consideration of various literature centered around menopausal symptoms, suggested by Janette M. Perz as 51 questions including 4 realms; [mental psychological factors], [physical physiological factors], [eyesight factors], and [urinary generative factors] in order to measure the degree of menopausal symptoms. The results are as follows : 1. There was a significant difference between educational background, religion, occupation, leisure time, satisfaction of marriage or ascetic life, existence of hormonal treatment, name of medical operation, and existence of counselling about menstruation as general and physiological characteristics of the nuns' group and the married women's group. 2. The menopausal symptoms of the nuns' group and the married women's group according to order in which they were presented were; 'feeling tired and lacking in energy(1.71 points)' 'vision not clear or clouded(1.69 points)', and 'be forgetful (1.57 points)' in nuns' group. 'be forgetful (1.87 points)', 'vision not clear or clouded(1.83 points)' and 'feeling tired and lacking in energy(1.76 points)' in the married women's group. The symptoms which showed the highest rank of menopausal symptoms had a maximum score of 4 points. 3. There was a statistical a significance (t=-3.9807, p<.0001) between the two groups which showed, on an average, 57.92 points in the married women's group and 43.03 points in the nuns' group from 0 to 196 of the possible points of menopausal symptoms. In difference of menopausal symptoms by menstrual aspect of the nuns' group and the married women's group, there was statistically significant difference between the two groups, showing 44.81+/- 26.07 score in the nuns' group and 72.33+/-35.29 score in the married women's group as the mean score of the groups with no menstruation(t=-4.1132, p=0.0001). 4. The differences in menopausal symptoms with respect to the general and physiological characteristics of the nuns' group and the married women's group were that the nuns' group showed less menopausal symptoms on all the items than that of the married women's group. Finally, in these results, the married women's group showed higher menopausal symptoms than that of the nuns' group. Especially as the score of menopausal symptoms since the climacteric was very high it is confirmed to be a new phenomenon. Accordingly, it is considered to be necessary to carry out an indepth study of the factors related to establishing a strategy for nursing service.