Perception of menopause symptoms among Nigerian women: A scoping review.

Abstract

Background: The menopause stage is an important part of every woman’s life. Menopause marks the period where a woman no longer produces viable eggs, and it is characterised by the cessation of the monthly menstrual cycle. The objective of this scoping review was to investigate the perception and awareness of menopause symptoms amongst Nigerian women. Furthermore, the research aimed to investigate the factors that affect Nigerian women, their awareness about menopause symptoms, as well as common sources where women obtain information about menopause symptoms.

Method: To achieve the aim of the research, a scoping analysis method was adopted. The method involved the description of the research question using the PCC (Population, Concept, Context) Framework. The PCC Framework enabled me to determine the research question using the population of interest – in this case, women- including peri- menopausal women, menopausal women, and post-menopausal women. Within the concept of research awareness levels and factors that affect these-Nigeria was the context. The search strategy was determined using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. An initial search of 3 databases (Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science) produced a total of 143 results. These were exported to Bibtex, and deduplication was performed leaving only 115 resources which were subject to title and abstract screening. At the end of the process, a total of 43 documents remained. In text- reference search yielded two results which were added to the previous 43 documents and full-text screening was performed. At the end of the screening process, 19 articles were selected for the review.

Results: Of the 19 articles selected, 16 were of cross-sectional survey design while two papers used a qualitative design, and one paper used a mixed method approach. A data extraction table was used to categorise findings of this research into themes which were analysed. A data extraction table was used to categorise findings of this survey. The findings of this survey showed that women had an appreciable awareness of menopause symptoms with factors such as age, level of education and cultural background being recognised as determinant factors.

Conclusion: The findings of the review highlighted the consideration of factors such as education, age and cultural background when designing intervention programmes for Nigerian women. It is recommended that future research should focus on these factors to develop adequate menopausal services.