Tímarit hjúkrunarfræðinga - 2024, Side 52

I felt like myself again: Women's experiences of hormone replacement therapy during menopause
ENGLISH SUMMARY
I felt like myself again:
Women's experiences of hormone replacement therapy
during menopause
Bjornsdottir, I. D., Karlsdottir, S. I., Sigurdardottir, S. O.
ABSRTAKT
Aim
The aim of this study was to gain more knowledge about women’s
experiences of hormone replacement therapy during menopause.
Perimenopause is the period from when the first symptoms of
menopause start to when it finishes. Perimenopause can begin
up to 10 years before menopause starts At this stage, a woman
may experience various physical and mental symptoms. Today,
menopausal hormone replacement therapy is an effective
treatment option for managing the physical and emotional
distress.
Method
The Vancouver-School of Phenomenology was chosen for this
study. The participants were 12 Icelandic women aged between 45
and 53, selected by purposive sampling who had been on hormone
replacement therapy for the last 3-24 months. Twelve individual
interviews were recorded, written down, and finally analyzed
thematically.
Results
The main theme of the study was: I felt like myself again.
Furthermore, six themes were identified: The body returned to
how I knew it, I felt alive again, Social connections built, Regret of
the time I lost, Active listening and communication, and This is a
growth experience. The women reported great physical-, mental-
and social changes after taking hormones. For example, joint
pain disappeared, and they slept better at night, which was one
of the main reasons they started hormone replacement therapy.
This study shows that the women would have liked to receive
a diagnosis sooner. They had visited a doctor numerous times
but felt that they were not listened to when experiencing their
menopause symptoms.
Conclusions
Hormone replacement therapy significantly improves women’s
physical, mental and social well-being. It is important that
healthcare accommodates women going through perimenopause
and menopause and provides them with support and education
about this period so that they can make an informed decision about
the benefits and risk factors of hormone replacement therapy.
Keywords
Hormone replacement therapy, perimenopause, experience,
women, phenomenology.
Correspondent
inga@unak.is