Women's knowledge and awareness on menopause symptoms and its treatment options remains inadequate: a report from the United Arab Emirates

Objectives:We aimed to evaluate the awareness, knowledge, and perception of middle-aged women regarding menopause and hormone therapy (HT).Methods:This observational study was conducted on pre-, peri-, post-, and surgically menopausal women (n = 591) from January 2020 until June 2020 in Dubai. A structured questionnaire was developed based on previous literature to assess participants' knowledge and awareness of menopause and HT. The questionnaire was implemented by face-to-face interview. Factors associated with the degree of menopausal knowledge were identified.Results:Majority (498, 82%) of participant women had fair to poor overall knowledge on menopause, did not know whom HT is used for (404, 48%), and for whom it is contradicted (455, 77%). Knowledge on menopause and HT was highly associated with better attitudes (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively).Furthermore, the greater the knowledge on menopause, the better the knowledge of HT (P < 0.001). Education was the primary factor that played a significant role in having better knowledge or attitudes. Nationality showed an association with better attitudes on menopause, with non-Arabs having better attitudes than Arabs and UAE nationals.Conclusions:Community medicine educators and primary healthcare providers need to prepare tailored premenopausal and postmenopausal educational interventional programs for further educating women and preparing them for this phase of their lives.