Coping Strategies in Post-menopausal Women of Selected Wards of Lalitpur Metropolitan City

Abstract

Background: Menopause is the permanent end of menstruation, marking the natural biological conclusion of a woman’s reproductive years. In Nepal menopause is considered as a normal phenomenon, women themselves may not seek medical help and not use coping strategies to alleviate complication and issues associated with menopause. Therefore, this study aims to assess the coping strategies in postmenopausal women.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used to assess coping strategies in postmenopausal women of 45-60 years of Lalitpur Metropolitan city. One stage cluster sampling was used. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews using the standard tool Brief COPE scale. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze data.

Results: Out of 273 postmenopausal women, mean age was 53.4± 3.8years. 29–33% postmenopausal women reported moderate to high use of problem based coping strategies. In contrast, several emotion-based coping strategies showed higher utilization, particularly learning to live with the situation (78.75%), accepting reality (70.33%), and engaging in distraction activities (69.96%).

Conclusion: It is concluded that post-menopausal women mainly used emotion based coping strategies, while problem-based approaches are less utilized. Coping was not significantly influenced by age, education and reproductive factors, but was positively associated with employment and physical activity.