3050.0: Monday, October 22, 2001 - Board 4

Abstract #24083

Latina American women's knowledge, attitudes, and feelings about menopause and its treatment

Annette Bairan, PhD, RN, CS, FNP, Dept. of Primary Care Nursing, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw, GA 30144, June Laval, PhD, Dept. of Foreign Languages, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw, GA 30144, and Kathleen Smith, MSN, RN, CS, FNP, Dept. of Nursing, North Georgia College & State University, Dahlonega, GA, 706-867-2778, ksmith718@aol.com.

During the next fifteen years, more women in the USA will be going through menopause than in all of recorded history, yet few women have adequate knowledge about menopause and its various treatment modalities. In addition, some groups of women, such as Latinas, have rarely been studied in relation to menopause. This paucity of research is made more significant when coupled with the prediction that the percent of Latino population in the USA will outstrip all other minority groups by the year 2005. The present study is an attempt to fill the gap in menopause research among Latinas. The design of this study is descriptive with both quantitative and qualitative components. Data will be collected from a convenience sample of Latina women utilizing face-to-face interviews conducted in Spanish and English in a variety of sites and settings (such as health care centers and churches) in a large southeastern city in the USA. The questionnaire covers demographics, degree of acculturation, menopause status, and knowledge, attitudes, and feelings about menopause and its treatment. The data will be analyzed by means of descriptive and correlational statistics, and by content analysis--using SPSS and NUD*IST.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Identify the level of knowledge of the Latina participants concerning menopause and its treatment.
  2. Describe at least two common attitudes expressed by the Latinas concerning menopause and it treatment.
  3. Evaluate the common themes that the Latinas expressed concerning their feelings about menopause and its treatment.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA