An Interventional Strategy of Lifestyle Education to Increase Awareness of Menopause among Postmenopausal Women of Urban Slums

A BSTRACT Background: Education and creating awareness on menopause, cognitive behavioral therapy, and lifestyle-related interventions such as diet, exercise, yoga, and counseling are the most common forms of non-medicinal therapy given to menopausal women. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of interventions to increase awareness regarding menopause. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted among 128 postmenopausal women who had permanent cessation of menstruation naturally within 5 years and residing in slums. The study group participants were intervened by an educational and lifestyle-related interventional module. Printed educational material in regional language was given to both groups. Results: The mean age of natural menopause was 48.66 ± 2.39 years and 78.1% of women reached menopause between 45 and 50 years of age. In follow-up, the knowledge, attitude, and practice scores regarding menopause of the intervention and control group participants were found to be significantly different ( P < 0.000). The mean awareness score was 3.33 ± 2.30 and at baseline, no significant difference was observed in both groups. After the intervention, a significant increase in awareness was found in both groups, and the awareness score increased by 26.69 points in the study group but 2.53 points in the control group. The majority of intervention group participants admitted that their perception, thinking, and experience of menopause had changed in a positive way after getting awareness and lifestyle-related education through interventions. Conclusions: Lifestyle-related interventions may have a huge impact on increasing menopausal awareness among menopausal women.