Abstract:
This is a survey research aiming to study the self-care behavior of women during their menopause period and the factors relating to self-care behavior. The sampling group consisted of 358 women whose ages ranged between 40-59 who were at the menopause period and residing in the area of Muang Municipality, Suratthani Province, The group was selected through the simple random sampling method. The data was collected through a questionnaire form which consisted of personal information, the knowledge test form on the menopause, the questionnaire form on the attitude toward the menopause and the questionnaire form on the self-care behavior of women during this period. The validity was performed by the scholars through examining the content validity while the reliability of the questionnaire form was performed by using the Cronbachs Alpha. Reliability value was 0.7. The questionnaire forms were both self-delivery and self-collection by the researcher. The collected data was analysed through frequency, percentage value, mean, standard deviation value, Chi-square test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The findings can be concluded as the following.
1. In the criteria of three levels i.e. high. Average and low, women during the menopause possessed maximum knowledge about the menopause subject at a high level, a percentage of 54.7% whereas the attitude toward the menopause was mostly at an average level, a percentage of 83.2% Similarly, the self-care behavior was at a very high level, a percentage of 72.6%.
2. Occupations, education, income of the family members, and the number of their previous pregnancies were correlated with the self-care behavior at the statistical significant level of 0.01.