Helene Ekström

Keeping My Ways of Being: Middle-aged Women and Menopause Helene Ekström

To deepen the understanding of menopause and its role in women''s lives was 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 responded. Twenty-four women were given research interviews. The effect of menopause on qualit of life (QoL) and number of symptoms were generally small, vasomotor symptoms being the only exception. Older women were more satified in these respects than younger women. Women with experience of hormone therapy (HT) reported lower QoL and more symptoms than women who never used HT. A grounded theory of interviews and open-ended questions revealed that the women dealt with uncertainties during menopause with the process: Keeping my ways of being. In this process the women were perceived as acively involved subjects. The intensity of the process and the use of its three stages: Preserving, Limiting and Reappraising, were considered dependent upon the important Personal calculation process, in which the women used their individual explanatory beliefs and evaluations of need.