Incidence of Menopausal Symptoms among Women in St. Andrew Anglican Church, Abossey Okai and their Coping Strategies

Abstract

This study examined the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and coping strategies among a total of 140 woman selected from ST Andrew Anglican church Abossey Okai in Accra. The effects of the average age of the participants and number of children on women’s experience of menopausal symptoms and coping were also examined. The employed a cross-sectional survey design and a set of questionnaires measuring signs and symptoms of menopause and coping strategies were administered to the respondents. Data analyses were done with descriptive statistics and One-Way ANOVA. Results from the study showedthat the most reported menopausal symptoms reported was Gestagen Deficiency Symptoms followed by Psychovegetative Symptoms and Atrophic Symptoms respectively. In terms of coping, the women used more spiritual coping followed by Social coping Medical and Physical coping respectively. Further analysis revealed that age of the women in the study had significant effects on all the three major menopausal symptoms (Gestagen Deficiency, Psychovegetative and Atrophic). Similarly, age of the women had a statistically significant effect on their use of Physical Coping and Medical Coping but not the use of Spiritual coping and Social coping. Number of children of the respondents in the study had significant effects on their Psychovegetative Symptoms and Atrophic Symptoms but not GestagenDefiiency Symptoms. However, number of children of the respondents in the study had no significant effects on their coping strategies. The implications of these findings to counselling practice and research are discussed.