Living with Changing Health: Perimenopause among Chinese Women in Taiwan
The purpose of this qualitative study was to generate theory about women's perimenopausal life experiences. Thirty-five Taiwanese women aged 40 to 59 who perceived themselves as perimenopausal and who were not using hormone therapy were interviewed. Data were generated from interviews which were conducted in Mandarin. Living with Changing Health was the core category for describing and guiding the process of perimenopause. During this process, Awareness was identified as the antecedent condition. Once the woman became aware, she would begin the process of living with her changing health. This process would be marked by action and interaction among the categories of Emotional Fluctuation, Searching for Answers, Compromising, Pursuing the Better Life, and Keeping on. Throughout this process women viewed perimenopause as A Natural Life Process during which they lived with their changing health. Although for Taiwanese women perimenopause is a natural life process, it is no longer a silent passage. Nurses should be sensitive to mid-life women noting if there is peaceful and silent passage or if there is hidden turbulence beneath their apparently peaceful lives. Helping them to live with their changing health is the most important issue for the care of Taiwanese perimenopausal women.
Chinese, Gynecology, nursing, Perimenopause, Taiwan, women
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