Effects of menopause on the life of women who experience hot flashes and their health-seeking behaviours

Background: Vasomotor symptoms affect most of women in the menopausal period and cause serious physical complaints. A lot of women who don’t get sufficient health care in this period develop chronic illnesses; and inability to cope with the menopausal complaints causes negative effects on their quality of life. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify what health seeking behaviours women who experience hot flashes use with a view to eliminating these complaints. Materials and Methods: The target population of this study which is qualitative in nature is the women who applied to menopause polyclinic. The participants were 40 women who volunteered to participate in the study, who had the complaint of hot flashes, and who went through menopause naturally Results: Results showed that the quality of life of the women with the complaint of hot flashes in the menopausal period was affected significantly; the women displayed various health seeking behaviours, and they had expectations from both their relatives and health professionals. In line with the data obtained, the themes emerging from the study included negative perceptions about menopause, decrease in quality of life, preparedness for menopause, complaints, coping, expectations from health professionals, and expectations from family. Conclusions: This study revealed that the quality of life of the women with the complaint of hot flashes decreased considerably, that they made use of various practices in order to cope with the complaints in this period, and that they could not cope with the complaints effectively due to their lack of knowledge on the issue. It is recommended that health professionals who provide women’s health services should help women to increase their quality of life and to cope with the complaints effectively by providing them with the training and guidance regarding the menopausal period and dealing with complaints during this period