Abstract:

The aim of this study was to develop the Menopause Knowledge Scale to measure menopause knowledge in women aged 18 and over. The 397 women in our study were reached with easy and practical methods in the education and research application area of Çukurova University Department of Public Health. Scope validity, exploratory factor analysis, and internal consistency reliability analyses were conducted for scale validity and reliability. Principal component analysis and varimax rotation technique were used to determine the scale's structure. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient), item-total correlation analysis, and test-retest method were used in reliability analysis. The suitability analysis for factor analysis of the dataset showed a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of 0.931 and a significance of p<0.001 for Bartlett's Test. According to the results of the exploratory factor analysis, the scale consisted of 14 items and 2 sub-factors (Factor 1: Menopausal Symptoms and Management Knowledge, Factor 2: General Menopause Knowledge), explaining 60.08% of the total variance. The internal consistency of the scale was found to be high with a Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of 0.917 overall, 0.830 for Factor 1, and 0.908 for Factor 2. Total item correlations ranged between 0.519 and 0.730. The Bland-Altman graphical approach for test-retest showed high stability of the scale. The scale can be considered reliable. It was found that the Menopause Knowledge Scale is a measurement tool that can be used to assess menopause knowledge in women aged 18 and above.

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