Neglecting and Ignoring Menopause Within A Gendered Multiple Transitional Context: Low Income Korean Immigrant Women

Abstract

Researchers rarely explore menopausal experience in the context of the totality of women's lives, subsequently making the picture of menopause incomplete, discrete and fragmented. Respecting the totality of women's lives, this study addresses how a vulnerable group of persons--low income Korean immigrant women--experience menopause within a context of multiple transitions.This is a cross-sectional descriptive study using methodological triangulation. A sample of 119 first-generation Korean immigrant women aged 40 to 60 years, who were in low-income jobs, was recruited from San Francisco Bay Area community using convenience sampling methods. From the total sample, 21 peri- or post-menopausal women were recruited for in-depth interviews following the collection of the survey data. Questionnaires, short interviews, and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Thematic analysis was used to interpret interview data.The findings indicate that the women neglected and ignored their menopause. The experience of menopause was reduced to only a biological event, and normalized. Within a multiple transitional (immigration, work and menopause) and gendered context, menopause was given the lowest priority amidst women's multiple and demanding roles. The lack of language clarity to describe the experience and the symptoms, cultural background, inadequate knowledge, and lack of social supports also made menopause hidden, invisible, and inaudible. The symptom experience of these women had no general patterns. Symptoms were highly individualized, culturally different from those of Western women, and minimized under the influence of Korean culture that stigmatizes psychological symptoms and devalues women's health. There was a difference in total number of physiological (p < .10), psychological (p < .05), and total symptoms (p < .05) by level of work satisfaction.A theoretical framework is suggested for understanding menopause complicated by multiple transitions (immigration, work and menopause) for women who were marginalized economically and culturally. Conclusions and implications for practice, research and policy are guided by the goal of understanding women's experiences and meanings of menopause and supporting women through reflecting these experiences into their health care, and social and policy changes.