CHINESE MIDLIFE WOMENS PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES ABOUT MENOPAUSE

Objective: The purpose of this research was to discover and describe t he meaning of and attitudes toward menopause in midlife Chinese women in Taiwan. How these women learned about menopause was also explored. Design: Questionnaires were distributed to a convenience sample of 208 Chinese women aged 35 to 55 living in Taiwan; 168 responded. Qualitat ive data were analyzed using content analysis. Percentage and chi-squa re were used to examine the quantitative data. Results: The findings r evealed that 154 (91.7%) women perceived menopause as a natural phenom enon. No statistically significant differences in attitude toward meno pause were found between women grouped by different menopausal levels, by use or not use of hormones, or by religious preference. Some women described menopause as, ''no longer young, getting old.'' Others desc ribed menopause as, ''wisdom and maturation,'' ''a symbol of achieveme nt,'' and ''a time to start enjoying life.'' Sixty-eight (40.5%) of th e sample indicated they obtained menopausal information from friends a nd printed materials such as books, newspapers, and magazines. Conclus ions: Study findings indicate that Chinese women in Taiwan perceive me nopause in a positive and holistic way. Culturally sensitized Western practitioners can utilize this study's findings to more appropriately individualize care for Chinese midlife women.