Keeping My Ways of Being. Middle-aged women and menopause

Helene Ekström

Keeping My Ways of Being. Middle-aged women and menopause

Helene Ekström

Medicine/Emergency Medicine, Lund

Research output: Thesis › Doctoral Thesis (compilation)

Abstract

To deepen the understanding of menopause and its role in women's lives is the general aim of this thesis. Between 1995 and 2003, all women in two Swedish primary health care districts received a postal questionnaire, when they were 45, 50, 55 or 60. A total of 1681 women (76%) responded. Twenty-four women were given research interviews.

The effects of menopause on quality of life (QoL) and number of symptoms were generally small, vasomotor symptoms being the only exception. Older women were more satisfied in these respects than younger women. Women with experience of hormone therapy (HT) reported more symptoms and lower QoL than women who never used HT. Factors concerned with women's everyday life, contentment with oneself and use of health care services were important in explaining the strong associations between attitudes towards HT and HT use. Educational level and occurrence of cold sweats/hot flushes did not contribute to the explanation. A shift from a mainly positive attitude towards HT and increasing HT use in the 1990s to a largely negative attitude and decreasing use became evident in 2002-03.

Grounded theory analysis of interviews and open-ended questions revealed that the women dealt with uncertainties during menopause with the process: Keeping my ways of being. The intensity of this process and the use of its three stages: Preserving present ways of being, Limiting changes and Reappraising, were considered dependent upon the important Personal calculation process, in which the women used their individual explanatory beliefs and evaluations of need.

Original language	English
Qualification	Doctor
Awarding Institution	Medicine/Emergency Medicine, Lund
Supervisors/Advisors	Hovelius, Birgitta, Supervisor Esseveld, Johanna, Supervisor
Award date	2005 Jan 21
Publisher	Helene Ekström, FoU-centrum, Box 1223, 351 12 Växjö, Sweden or Division of Family Medicine, Lund
ISBN (Print)	91-628-6337-1
Publication status	Published - 2005

Bibliographical note

Defence details

Date: 2005-01-21
Time: 10:00
Place: Auditoriet, Kulturen, Tegnérplatsen, Lund

External reviewer(s)

Name: Björkelund, Cecilia
Title: Professor
Affiliation: Institutionen för allmänmedicin, Göteborgs Universitet, SE-405 30

---

<div class="article_info">H Ekström and B Hovelius. <span class="article_issue_date">2000</span>. <span class="article_title">Quality of life and hormone therapy in women before and after menopause.</span> <span class="journal_series_title">Scand J Prim Health Care</span>, <span class="journal_volume">vol 18(2)</span> <span class="journal_pages">pp 115-21</span>. <span class="journal_distributor">Scand J Prim Health Care</span></div>
<div class="article_info">H Ekström, J Esseveld and B Hovelius. <span class="article_issue_date">2003</span>. <span class="article_title">Associations between attitudes toward hormone therapy and current use of it in middle-aged women.</span> <span class="journal_series_title">Maturitas</span>, <span class="journal_volume">vol 46</span> <span class="journal_pages">pp 45-57</span>. <span class="journal_distributor">Maturitas</span></div>
<div class="article_info">H Ekström. <span class="article_issue_date"></span>. <span class="article_title">Trends in middle-aged women’s use of hormone therapy and attitudes toward it.</span> <span class="journal_distributor">Dept of Medicine, LU</span> (submitted)</div>
<div class="article_info">H Ekström, J Esseveld and B Hovelius. <span class="article_issue_date"></span>. <span class="article_title">Keeping my ways of being: Middle-aged women dealing with the passage through menopause.</span> <span class="journal_distributor">Dept of Medicine, LU</span> (submitted)</div>

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Other Clinical Medicine

Free keywords

Allmän medicinsk utövning
medical training
General practice
Grounded theory
Attitudes
Quality of life
Hormone tharapy
Menopause
Family Medicine
medicinsk utbildning

Cite this

@phdthesis{35f70f4901664fe3b50f0d7a85dfb5aa,

title = "Keeping My Ways of Being. Middle-aged women and menopause",

abstract = "To deepen the understanding of menopause and its role in women's lives is the general aim of this thesis. Between 1995 and 2003, all women in two Swedish primary health care districts received a postal questionnaire, when they were 45, 50, 55 or 60. A total of 1681 women (76%) responded. Twenty-four women were given research interviews. The effects of menopause on quality of life (QoL) and number of symptoms were generally small, vasomotor symptoms being the only exception. Older women were more satisfied in these respects than younger women. Women with experience of hormone therapy (HT) reported more symptoms and lower QoL than women who never used HT. Factors concerned with women's everyday life, contentment with oneself and use of health care services were important in explaining the strong associations between attitudes towards HT and HT use. Educational level and occurrence of cold sweats/hot flushes did not contribute to the explanation. A shift from a mainly positive attitude towards HT and increasing HT use in the 1990s to a largely negative attitude and decreasing use became evident in 2002-03. Grounded theory analysis of interviews and open-ended questions revealed that the women dealt with uncertainties during menopause with the process: Keeping my ways of being. The intensity of this process and the use of its three stages: Preserving present ways of being, Limiting changes and Reappraising, were considered dependent upon the important Personal calculation process, in which the women used their individual explanatory beliefs and evaluations of need.",

keywords = "Allm{\"a}n medicinsk ut{\"o}vning, medical training, General practice, Grounded theory, Attitudes, Quality of life, Hormone tharapy, Menopause, Family Medicine, medicinsk utbildning",

author = "Helene Ekstr{\"o}m",

note = "Defence details Date: 2005-01-21 Time: 10:00 Place: Auditoriet, Kulturen, Tegn{\'e}rplatsen, Lund External reviewer(s) Name: Bj{\"o}rkelund, Cecilia Title: Professor Affiliation: Institutionen f{\"o}r allm{\"a}nmedicin, G{\"o}teborgs Universitet, SE-405 30 --- <div class={"}article_info{"}>H Ekstr{\"o}m and B Hovelius. <span class={"}article_issue_date{"}>2000</span>. <span class={"}article_title{"}>Quality of life and hormone therapy in women before and after menopause.</span> <span class={"}journal_series_title{"}>Scand J Prim Health Care</span>, <span class={"}journal_volume{"}>vol 18(2)</span> <span class={"}journal_pages{"}>pp 115-21</span>. <span class={"}journal_distributor{"}>Scand J Prim Health Care</span></div> <div class={"}article_info{"}>H Ekstr{\"o}m, J Esseveld and B Hovelius. <span class={"}article_issue_date{"}>2003</span>. <span class={"}article_title{"}>Associations between attitudes toward hormone therapy and current use of it in middle-aged women.</span> <span class={"}journal_series_title{"}>Maturitas</span>, <span class={"}journal_volume{"}>vol 46</span> <span class={"}journal_pages{"}>pp 45-57</span>. <span class={"}journal_distributor{"}>Maturitas</span></div> <div class={"}article_info{"}>H Ekstr{\"o}m. <span class={"}article_issue_date{"}></span>. <span class={"}article_title{"}>Trends in middle-aged women{\textquoteright}s use of hormone therapy and attitudes toward it.</span> <span class={"}journal_distributor{"}>Dept of Medicine, LU</span> (submitted)</div> <div class={"}article_info{"}>H Ekstr{\"o}m, J Esseveld and B Hovelius. <span class={"}article_issue_date{"}></span>. <span class={"}article_title{"}>Keeping my ways of being: Middle-aged women dealing with the passage through menopause.</span> <span class={"}journal_distributor{"}>Dept of Medicine, LU</span> (submitted)</div>",

year = "2005",

language = "English",

isbn = "91-628-6337-1",

publisher = "Helene Ekstr{\"o}m, FoU-centrum, Box 1223, 351 12 V{\"a}xj{\"o}, Sweden or Division of Family Medicine, Lund",

type = "Doctoral Thesis (compilation)",

school = "Medicine/Emergency Medicine, Lund",

}

TY - THES

T1 - Keeping My Ways of Being. Middle-aged women and menopause

AU - Ekström, Helene

N1 - Defence details Date: 2005-01-21 Time: 10:00 Place: Auditoriet, Kulturen, Tegnérplatsen, Lund External reviewer(s) Name: Björkelund, Cecilia Title: Professor Affiliation: Institutionen för allmänmedicin, Göteborgs Universitet, SE-405 30 --- <div class="article_info">H Ekström and B Hovelius. <span class="article_issue_date">2000</span>. <span class="article_title">Quality of life and hormone therapy in women before and after menopause.</span> <span class="journal_series_title">Scand J Prim Health Care</span>, <span class="journal_volume">vol 18(2)</span> <span class="journal_pages">pp 115-21</span>. <span class="journal_distributor">Scand J Prim Health Care</span></div> <div class="article_info">H Ekström, J Esseveld and B Hovelius. <span class="article_issue_date">2003</span>. <span class="article_title">Associations between attitudes toward hormone therapy and current use of it in middle-aged women.</span> <span class="journal_series_title">Maturitas</span>, <span class="journal_volume">vol 46</span> <span class="journal_pages">pp 45-57</span>. <span class="journal_distributor">Maturitas</span></div> <div class="article_info">H Ekström. <span class="article_issue_date"></span>. <span class="article_title">Trends in middle-aged women’s use of hormone therapy and attitudes toward it.</span> <span class="journal_distributor">Dept of Medicine, LU</span> (submitted)</div> <div class="article_info">H Ekström, J Esseveld and B Hovelius. <span class="article_issue_date"></span>. <span class="article_title">Keeping my ways of being: Middle-aged women dealing with the passage through menopause.</span> <span class="journal_distributor">Dept of Medicine, LU</span> (submitted)</div>

PY - 2005

Y1 - 2005

N2 - To deepen the understanding of menopause and its role in women's lives is the general aim of this thesis. Between 1995 and 2003, all women in two Swedish primary health care districts received a postal questionnaire, when they were 45, 50, 55 or 60. A total of 1681 women (76%) responded. Twenty-four women were given research interviews. The effects of menopause on quality of life (QoL) and number of symptoms were generally small, vasomotor symptoms being the only exception. Older women were more satisfied in these respects than younger women. Women with experience of hormone therapy (HT) reported more symptoms and lower QoL than women who never used HT. Factors concerned with women's everyday life, contentment with oneself and use of health care services were important in explaining the strong associations between attitudes towards HT and HT use. Educational level and occurrence of cold sweats/hot flushes did not contribute to the explanation. A shift from a mainly positive attitude towards HT and increasing HT use in the 1990s to a largely negative attitude and decreasing use became evident in 2002-03. Grounded theory analysis of interviews and open-ended questions revealed that the women dealt with uncertainties during menopause with the process: Keeping my ways of being. The intensity of this process and the use of its three stages: Preserving present ways of being, Limiting changes and Reappraising, were considered dependent upon the important Personal calculation process, in which the women used their individual explanatory beliefs and evaluations of need.

AB - To deepen the understanding of menopause and its role in women's lives is the general aim of this thesis. Between 1995 and 2003, all women in two Swedish primary health care districts received a postal questionnaire, when they were 45, 50, 55 or 60. A total of 1681 women (76%) responded. Twenty-four women were given research interviews. The effects of menopause on quality of life (QoL) and number of symptoms were generally small, vasomotor symptoms being the only exception. Older women were more satisfied in these respects than younger women. Women with experience of hormone therapy (HT) reported more symptoms and lower QoL than women who never used HT. Factors concerned with women's everyday life, contentment with oneself and use of health care services were important in explaining the strong associations between attitudes towards HT and HT use. Educational level and occurrence of cold sweats/hot flushes did not contribute to the explanation. A shift from a mainly positive attitude towards HT and increasing HT use in the 1990s to a largely negative attitude and decreasing use became evident in 2002-03. Grounded theory analysis of interviews and open-ended questions revealed that the women dealt with uncertainties during menopause with the process: Keeping my ways of being. The intensity of this process and the use of its three stages: Preserving present ways of being, Limiting changes and Reappraising, were considered dependent upon the important Personal calculation process, in which the women used their individual explanatory beliefs and evaluations of need.

KW - Allmän medicinsk utövning

KW - medical training

KW - General practice

KW - Grounded theory

KW - Attitudes

KW - Quality of life

KW - Hormone tharapy

KW - Menopause

KW - Family Medicine

KW - medicinsk utbildning

M3 - Doctoral Thesis (compilation)

SN - 91-628-6337-1

PB - Helene Ekström, FoU-centrum, Box 1223, 351 12 Växjö, Sweden or Division of Family Medicine, Lund

ER -

Keeping My Ways of Being. Middle-aged women and menopause

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Free keywords

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Cite this