2012, Number 2
Satisfacción con la vida asociada al apoyo familiar en la perimenopausia y posmenopausia
Martínez GMD, González-Arratia López-Fuentes NI, Oudhof BH, Domínguez EAC
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Language: Spanish
References: 41
Page: 91-98
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ABSTRACT
In Mexico, women with 45 to 59 years of age represent almost 13.45% of the total of the female population, a number that will increase in the coming years. Based on the reference that menopause in Mexican women is present in an average range of ages from 47.3 to 49 and considering that life expectancy is 78 years, it can be deducted that women in this stage still have a third of their years left to live.In diverse publications, diverse definitions of perimenopause have been used. For the effects of this study, the Official Mexican Standard 035-SSA2-2002 was considered. In this way, perimenopause refers to the period where the signs begin, characterized by alterations in the intervals of the menstrual cycle and vasomotor symptoms. Meanwhile, menopause is amenorrea for 12 uninterrupted months, without a pathological or psychological cause, the moment from which is considered post menopause.
Perimenopause and postmenopause make up a natural period for a woman, which is characterized by the gradual diminishment of ovary function. Symptoms such as vasomotors can be passing or innocuous, but not less unpleasant or sometimes incapacitating, circumstances that mostly suit the application of studies concerning the management of hormone replacement therapy. Besides the physical symptoms that some women manifest, there are psychological and social factors that can influence the experience of perimenopause or postmenopause, affecting the satisfaction of life of women during this period, being that satisfaction with life is a cognitive component of subjective well-being and quality of life.
Studies related to the satisfaction of life of someone with menopause were carried out in different cultural contexts, which have produced contradictory results. For example, in Israel and Germany it was reported that some women showed high indexes of satisfaction, while in Holland women in postmenopause reported a perception of low subjective well-being. This indicates that there are variations in satisfaction or in subjective well-being of women in menopause.
This stage is also characterized by the tendency of women to reflect upon their personal lives, interpersonal and family relationships that can influence satisfaction with life, and mental health. Another important factor that has been described as an influence in satisfaction with life is having a family with a positive attitude towards aging.
Regarding that, family support is referred to, which has been defined as a measure of how a person feels they are accepted, loved, and esteemed by the members of their family, and the association between psychological well-being and satisfaction has been established. On the other hand, most women of this age still are within the economically active population, complying with their own work demands of each occupation, a factor that has equally been associated with satisfaction with life. Following this same topic, researches such as Vanderwatery col. found that for women in the menopausal stage, the roles they perform, especially with their family, high levels of well-being were predicted. Another study done with women in menopause found that those who work report a better quality of life in comparison with women who exclusively carry out the role of housewives or recently so-called unpaid work.
For the above, and considering that the study of perimenopause and postmenopause is a theme that has been a little intrusive from a psycho-social perspective, it is important to describe the relationship that satisfaction of life has with the perception of family support during the menopausal experience, being that in spite of the sensation or state of psychological well-being, healthy conduct is favored. In this way, the objective of this research is to identify in a group of Mexican women the level of satisfaction with life and its association with family support, assuming that both are closely related, as well as exploring if the perception of family support, schooling, occupation, and having children or a partner has an impact in high satisfaction with life during peri- and postmenopause.
Method: The non-probabilistic sample was 300 women divided into two groups: 150 women in perimenopause and 150 in postmenopause (M=50.95 years; DE=4.072 years). In the moment of application of instruments, the women hadn’t tried hormonal therapy and didn’t present menopause because of early or induced ovary failure.
The instruments that were applied were the satisfaction with life scale (Satisfaction With Life Scale
An identity document was applied that included socio-demographic data such as: schooling, occupation, and having a partner or children. This study was approved by the Committee of Ethics and Research of the Center of Medical Studies of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico. The female participants were recruited from the Menopause Clinic of the public hospital, who accepted voluntarily and signed an informed consent form. For the analysis of the results, the SSPS version 18 program was utilized. Analysis of absolute and relative frequencies was carried out for the description of socio-demographic characteristics of the participants. For the determination of the differences between the perimenopause and postmenopause groups, t of Student was utilized for independent samples, χ2. The Spearman test was applied to identify the correlations between the variables. Finally an analysis of stepwise multiple regression was done, where the proposed model considered the variables of perception of family support, schooling, occupation, and having a partner or children, which indicated satisfaction with life.
Results: The highest percentage was occupied by women with a technical secondary school level and corresponded to a mid-higher level (30.7%). The major proportion was occupied by those who have unpaid work (33.3%), observed equally high in the proportion of women with a partner or children. The average age for the premenopausal group was 48.4 DE 2.47 and for postmenopausal women 53.67 DE 3.5. The average age for the appearance of menopause in women of the group of postmenopause was 48.55 DE 4.10.
The scores of both groups for satisfaction with life and perceived family support were located above the theoretical average in their respective scales. Regarding satisfaction with life, significant statistical differences were not found in the groups of peri- and post menopause. The significant statistical differences found between the two groups were observed in schooling (p≤.007) and having a partner (p≤.009). The variables that correlated with the satisfaction with life were the perception of family support (Rho .541, p≤.01), followed by variables of schooling (Rho .228, p≤.01), occupation (Rho. 204, p≤.01), and having children (Rho 162 p≤.05). It was evident that the most important indicator for satisfaction with life is the perception that women have about family support (β .542, IC LI.503; LS .720 p≤.001), and to the least degree occupation (β .153, IC LI.230; LS .977 p≤.002). Both variables explain satisfaction of life with 31% (R2 .311).
Discussion: The results of this study show that by comparing groups of women with perimenopause and postmenopause, statistically significant differences in satisfaction with life and perception of family support are not found. Because of this it can be deduced that the transition to menopause does not affect satisfaction with life and equally the perception of family support. These findings confirm what is reported in other studies, that menopause does not affect the satisfaction with life, to the contrary of what is thought with the relationship of negative cultural stereotypes that are had about menopausal women. This affirmation is also referred to in another study where it is mentioned that personal satisfaction does not necessarily decline with the increase in age; it neither gets better nor worse with age, as individuals adapt to the circumstances that they find themselves immersed in that suit mental health.
These results can respond to women currently in this moment of life; they can still immerse themselves in the labor field, with the prospects of being productive women. This characteristic has been referred to by Erickson as describing maturity as a stage of generation in opposition to stagnation, where generation is characterized by productivity, integration in work and family life, making contributions to traditionally social activity, and caring for loved ones, which assists a transition towards active aging.
As a result it is important to consider that no biological, physiosocial or cultural factor in isolated form determines personal satisfaction. An example of this is that to some cultures this stage represents a moment of renewal and is awaited with complacence, while in others it is related to decadence, and cause of impairment, and a need of having more resources to adapt to the change.
More research with populations of diverse socio-economic stratum is required. Also other personality factors should be considered, in this way incorporating other socio-demographic variables such as civil status, type of family, and number of people who live together. In conclusion, in the group of women studied, the stage of transition to menopause does not affect satisfaction with life, being that for those an important prediction factor for this satisfaction is the perception that they have family support and an occupation. In this case an association with satisfaction with life and having a partner, children, or schooling was not found.
Finally the necessity of establishing strategies for professionals who attend to mental health can be proposed, so that in their practices they consider taking into account other factors that can affect mature women, in their psychological well-being and satisfaction with life, along with the promotion of family relationships of support, in this way opening a window of opportunity for the development of holistic attention strategies.
REFERENCES
Domínguez EAC, Salas-Menotti I, Procidano ME. Comparación de una medida de apoyo social en dos contextos latinoamericanos: México y Colombia. Apoyo Social cap.11 en: Cintrón BF, Acosta PF, Díaz-Meléndez L (eds.). Psicología comunitaria. Trabajando con comunidades en las Américas; Puerto Rico: Sociedad Interamericana de Psicología; 2009; pp. 222-225.