MATURITAS, cilt.50, sa.3, ss.167-176, 2005 (SCI-Expanded)
Aim: To investigate the characteristics of menopausal Population who gets free first step health-care services from government facilities in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. Methods: One thousand and forty-nine pre- (N = 403) and post (N = 646)-menopausal females were interviewed with a questionnaire in five different facilities during 2 weeks. Results: The group, who never used oral contraceptive as a family planning method, never smoked and had a low rate of illiteracy (72.5, 72.5, 77.7, and 12.1%, respectively. Mean age of the menopause was 45.8 +/- 5.5 years. Mean years since menopause was 13.2 +/- 19.6 years and mode of the menopause was 10 years. Group of postmenopausal women knew the meaning of menopause as "ceasing of menses" in a significantly higher rate compared to pre-menopausal group (6.9% versus 2.2%, respectively).