A survey of Liverpool John Moores University Public Health Students’ views on the menopause.

Abstract

Background: Menopause is one of the biologically determined conditions in females' lives. It is the responsibility of people who learn and work in the field of public health to initiate public health approaches to support females with menopausal issues. This study intended to assess the knowledge and attitudes of Public Health Institute (PHI) students at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) towards menopause.

Methods: An exploratory quantitative survey was carried out by using an online questionnaire administered via students’ official university emails. The data was collected over a period of four weeks. A total of fifty-one participants completed the online survey.

Results: Most of the participants who were very much informed about menopause (87.5%) were international students. Among all who reported that they were taught menopause with a lot of explanation at school, were overseas students (87.5%). Of the respondents many of them have looked to health professionals (54.9%) as a reliable source for information on menopause, followed by family (45.1%) and others who discussed menopause around them (45.1%). Irregular period (72%) and fatigue (72%) were the most common physical symptoms that were known by the respondents while anxiety (60%), low mood (60%) and poor concentration (60%) were the frequently known psychological symptoms. Forty-seven percent of female students mentioned <50 years as the onset of women’s menopause, whereas more males (53.8%) declared the same as 50+ years. Forty- nine percentage of the students declared that school was the best place to teach about menopause. Nearly equal proportions of males (53.8%) and females (52.6%) declared that they would be able to talk about menopause when it happened to them or a close friend/family member or their partners. Further, most of the respondents (90%) agreed the statements on attitudes “It is important to educate men about menopause across all ages” and “Setting up of public health menopausal clinics are essential to support menopausal women”.

Conclusion: It is essential to include in-depth learning and training on menopause in the official curriculum of PHI to produce proactive future public health professionals and thereby support menopausal women.