Background
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People of Australia
Menopause
Groups of Menopause symptoms * symptoms directly related to decline in estrogen levels
| Prevalence in Australia Menopausal women (variable) | |
---|---|---|
Somatic
| *Hot flushes | 45-80%37
|
*Night Sweats | 38-82%37
| |
Heart discomfort | 30% (Palpitations)11
| |
Sleeping problems - *insomnia | - | |
Muscle and joint problems | - | |
Psychological
| Depressive Mood | - |
Irritability | - | |
Anxiety | - | |
Physical and Mental exhaustion | - | |
Urogenital
| Sexual problems | - |
Bladder problems | - | |
*Vaginal dryness | 45% 11
| |
Total Urogenital = 60%11
|
Methods
Database | Search Terms | Number of Articles Retrieved |
---|---|---|
PUBMED
| (Oceanic Ancestry Group [mh] OR indigenous OR aborigin* OR torres strait islander OR torres strait islanders) | 6 |
AND | ||
(australia OR australia*) | ||
AND | ||
(menopause OR menopausal OR premenopause OR premenopausal OR perimenopause OR perimenopausal OR postmenopaus* OR postmenopaus* OR climacteric or climacteri* OR “change of life” or “hot flashes”) | ||
CINAHL PLUS
| (MH "Climacteric+") OR (MH "Menopause+") OR (MH "Perimenopausal Symptoms+") OR (MH "Perimenopause") OR (MH "Hot Flashes") OR (MH "Postmenopausal Disorders") OR (MH "Postmenopause") OR (MH "Premenopause") OR (MH "Menopause, Premature") OR menopaus* OR premenopaus* OR postmenopaus* OR climacteri* OR “change of life” OR “hot flashes” | 4 |
AND | ||
(australia OR Australia*) | ||
AND | ||
(MH “Indigenous peoples+” OR MH “Indigenous health+” OR indigenous OR aborigin* OR "torres strait islander" OR "torres strait islanders") | ||
PsycINFO 1806 to August Week 4 2012
| (exp Menopause/ or menopaus$ or premenopaus$ or perimenopaus$ or postmenopaus$ or climacteri$ or change of life or hot flashes) | 0 |
AND | ||
australia and (exp indigenous populations/ or aborigin$ or indigenous or torres strait islander$) | ||
ERIC
| (menopaus$ or premenopaus$ or perimenopaus$ or postmenopaus$ or climacteric or change of life or hot flashes) | 1 |
AND | ||
australia and (exp indigenous populations/ or aborigin$ or indigenous or torres strait islander$) | ||
SCOPUS
| TITLE-ABS-KEY(menopaus* OR premenopaus* OR perimenopaus* OR postmenopaus* OR climacteri* OR “change of life” OR “hot flashes” ) | 8 |
AND | ||
TITLE-ABS-KEY(australi*) | ||
AND | ||
TITLE-ABS-KEY(indigenous OR aborigin* OR "torres strait islander" OR "torres strait islanders") | ||
EMBASE Classic + EMBASE 1947 to 2012 September 05
| (exp early menopause/ OR exp menopause/ OR exp menopause related disorder/ OR exp "menopause and climacterium"/ OR menopaus$ OR premenopaus$ OR perimenopaus$ OR postmenopaus$ ORr climacteric$ OR change of life OR hot flashes ) | 9 |
AND | ||
(exp australia/ or australia$) | ||
AND | ||
(exp indigenous people/ OR exp aborigine/ OR aborigin$ OR indigenous OR torres strait islander$)) | ||
INFORMIT (‘Multiple databases’ search)
| (menopaus* OR premenopaus* OR perimenopaus* OR postmenopaus* OR climacteri* OR “change of life” OR “hot flashes” ) | 10 |
AND | ||
(australia OR australian) | ||
AND | ||
(indigenous OR aborigin* OR "torres strait islander" OR "torres strait islanders") |
Results
Factors that influence menopausal experience
Biological and reproductive factors
Psychological factors
Social factors
Experiences in other countries and cultures
Indigenous Australian women
First Author and Date |
Davies SR et al.Published in 2003 Research undertaken in 1999 |
McKenna, Elizabeth M Thesis submitted in 2001 Research undertaken in 2000 |
---|---|---|
Title
|
Climacteric symptoms among indigenous Australian women and a model for the use of culturally relevant art in health promotion [37] |
The Experience, Knowledge and Relevance of Menopause to Indigenous and Caucasian women in Far North Queensland [36] |
Study Design
| Cross-sectional design, using structured interviews | Face-to-Face interviewing: using both closed and open questioning technique. |
Mixed methods of analysis | ||
Sampling and Sample Size
| Convenience sampling in the community setting | Population based sample of women over 40 years. |
55 Participants | Snowball sampling of rural Indigenous women. Word of mouth sampling recruitment of urban Indigenous women | |
Random sampling using electoral database for urban Caucasian women. | ||
313 Participants | ||
- 130 rural Indigenous women | ||
- 73 Indigenous women in Cairns (urban) | ||
- 120 Caucasian women in Cairns (urban) | ||
Location
| Kimberley region of Western Australia and south western Victoria - Australia | Far North Queensland - Australia |
Objective of Study
| “To evaluate climacteric symptoms among rural and remote Indigenous Australian women and to develop culturally relevant women’s health midlife educational material [37] | To investigate the knowledge and experience of menopause in Far North Queensland Indigenous women, with comparison to a Caucasian population in the same area |
Age of Menopause
| Not reported | Rural Indigenous: 45.9 years |
Urban Indigenous: 46.9 years | ||
Urban Caucasian: 48.3 years | ||
Symptoms Described
| 1. Hot flushes (59%) | Lower rates of symptom reporting in the rural Indigenous women compared to the other populations in this study |
2. Urinary frequency/incontinence (53%) | ||
3. Mood swings (47%) | ||
4. Vaginal dryness (41%) | 1. Hot flushes/night sweats | |
- Rural Indigenous 36% | ||
- Urban Indigenous 71.9% | ||
- Urban Caucasian 68% | ||
2. Vaginal dryness | ||
- Rural Indigenous 29.1% | ||
- Urban Indigenous 56.3% | ||
- Urban Caucasian 46% | ||
3. Mood changes | ||
- Rural Indigenous 37.2% | ||
- Urban Indigenous 65.6% | ||
- Urban Caucasian 42% | ||
4. Insomnia | ||
- Rural Indigenous 16.3% | ||
- Urban Indigenous 43.8% | ||
- Urban Caucasian 34% | ||
Key Themes
| Lack of understanding about the cause of their symptoms | In rural Indigenous women, 58.9% were not aware that menses would cease. |
No traditional methods used to deal with bothersome symptoms | Celibacy at menopause was suggested by 81.5% of Indigenous women interviewed | |
No use of hormone replacement therapy | Rural Indigenous women were less likely to access medical care, and to talk about menopause | |
Main source of information – health professionals for Indigenous women and media for Caucasian women |