Relationship between Spirituality Well-Being and Healthy Lifestyle with Symptoms of Menopause and Andropauses in Couples in Tabriz 1393

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Menopause is considered as one of the natural life processes in women and as a physiological phenomenon experienced by every woman. Women’s social class, the culture where they live in, life status (the degree of freedom and independence in life), and life incidents are the factor affecting the signs of menopause. Therefore, hormonal changes during this period are not the only contributing factor to the problems of menopause. Male menopause (andropause) is the physiological changes in men as they getting older, as syndrome which has physical, sexual, and psychological dimensions and is characterized by symptoms, including weakness, fatigue, decrease in bone mass, sexual dysfunction, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and loss of short-term memory. Except the age factor, low income, less physical activity, record of blood pressure, and chronic diseases are among the risk factors of androgen deficiency in men. Concerning the significance of menopause and andropause phenomenon and the impact of various factors on their symptoms, the present article is conducted to evaluate the relationship between spiritual health and healthy life style and its effect on the symptoms of menopause and andropause. Materials and method: a total of 264 menopausal women aged 50-55 and their husbands, who reside in Tabriz City, Iran were attended in this cross-sectional study. Their addresses were given from the local civil registration organization in the form of 46 cluster head. The information was gathered through social-personal questionnaires, Palutzian and Ellison's spiritual health questionnaire, promoting healthy lifestyles for women and men, and GREENE menopausal scale (exclusively for women). All these four questionnaires were self-completed and male andropause syndrome test (exclusively for men) was used and a male interviewer (after being informed how to fill the questionnaire) filled the questionnaire. After completing the questionnaires and collecting the required information, data were analyzed using the SPSS Software version 21 and descriptive statistics, including central and dispersion indices, that is, mean, standard deviation, inferential statistics, involving Pearson or Spearman test, statistical test, namely T-test, one-way variance analysis, Chi-square test, mann-Whitney test, and linear regression were provided. Findings: the obtained results indicated that the spiritual health has a significantly inverse relationship with the symptoms of menopause and andropause. Another inverse relationship was also evident between healthy life style and the symptoms of menopause and andropause. The multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that the educational level and marriage satisfaction are two predictors of menopause. Having a job, education, income, and housing were among the predictors of andropause. Conclusion: the growth of spiritual health and improvement of healthy life style could modify the symptoms of menopause and andropause, because the increase of these two factors could not only affect their personal life, but underlie the life style of other family members. Holding training classes and consulting with menopausal women on the improvement of life style could lead to the decrease of unpleasant symptoms of menopause and andropause. The present article is carried out as the initial step for planning and presenting appropriate strategies to rectify the problems of menopausal women and andropausal men and emphasizes on training, consultation, and special care on authorities’ side.