Knowledge and Help Seeking Behaviors for Menopausal Symptoms among Female Staff Working in a Selected University in Ogun State (Published)
Citation: Eunice Abimbola Ojo, Oluwatosin. O. Ope-Babadele, Mary Ayodeji Gbenga-Epebinu, Rachel Omolara Aina and Jolayemi Oluwaseyi Damilola (2022) Knowledge and Help Seeking Behaviors for Menopausal Symptoms among Female Staff Working in a Selected University in Ogun State, International Journal of Public Health, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Vol. 7, No.1, pp.14-28,
The menopausal years is a very important phase in a woman’s life and it is of good benefit to the women who engage in help seeking behaviors so as to be able to cope well with the phase. The purpose of this study was to see the knowledge and help seeking behaviors among female staffs working in the hall of residence at a selected university in Ogun state. This cross – sectional study was conducted in Babcock University on 102 female staffs who worked in the halls of residence. Total enumeration was used and purposive sampling method was used to select participants. A self-designed questionnaire was used for data collection. The research instrument was validated by experts of Nursing Science and Tests & Measurement. Reliability of the instrument was ascertained through test re-test and it was found to be reliable. Descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions while inferential statistics of chi-square and correlation were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The finding revealed 35% of the women had low knowledge while 65% of them had very high knowledge of menopause. Also, it was discovered that 82% of the respondents have low help seeking behavior while only 18% had high help seeking behavior. This could be as a result of the response of the respondents where 71% of the respondents reported that they do not believe in seeking help as Menopause is a natural aging process. Many of the respondents, about 74% had low effect of menopause on daily activities while only 26% had high effects on daily activity. Mostly the women whose menopause symptoms do affect their daily activities do so with their families and homes. The study also showed that there is no significant association between knowledge and help seeking behavior (r = -0.093, p>0.05) and there is no significant association between knowledge and the effects of menopause on daily activities (Chi (2.196), p>0.05). (r =0.148, p>0.05). It was recommended among others that health organizations and health workers need to improve their awareness efforts to include mainstream media and social media to help women have a better understanding of menopause symptoms.
Keywords: Knowledge, female staff, help-seeking behaviors, menopausal symptoms