Hospital Practices and Research

Abstract Background: Menopause represents a significant physiological and psychological transition, often accompanied by negative attitudes and considerable challenges in health adjustment.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness training in improving attitudes toward menopause and health adjustment among menopausal women.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study employed a pre-test, post-test design with a control group. The statistical population included menopausal women referred to a health center in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2024. A sample of 30 eligible women aged 51-65 years was selected using convenience sampling and randomly allocated into two equal groups (experimental, n = 15; control, n = 15). The experimental group received eight 70-minute sessions of mindfulness training, while the control group was placed on a waitlist. Data were collected using the Attitudes Toward Menopause Questionnaire and the Health Adjustment subscale of the Bell Adjustment Inventory. Data were analyzed using Chi-square and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) via SPSS 25.
Results: Initial analysis indicated no significant differences in age and educational level between the two groups (P > 0.05). The MANCOVA results showed that the mindfulness intervention significantly improved both attitudes toward menopause (η²p = 0.60) and health adjustment (η²p = 0.57) in the experimental group compared to the control group (P < 0.001), with large effect sizes.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that mindfulness training is an effective, non-pharmacological intervention for enhancing psychological resilience and improving women's adaptation during the menopausal transition. Specialists and therapists are encouraged to incorporate mindfulness protocols into women's health promotion and counseling programs.

Abstract Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women.
Objective: This study was performed to determine the symptoms of menopause and quality of life in women with and without breast cancer.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was performed in hospitals of Babol, Mazandaran province, Iran, in two groups of women with and without breast cancer. The study population included all women with menopausal symptoms who were divided into two groups containing 100 women apiece. A checklist containing menopausal symptoms was collected from these two groups and the standard questionnaire EORTC-QLQ-C30 was utilized to assess the quality of life in the case group and the standard questionnaire SF-36 was used in the control case. Data were analyzed by SPSS software.
Results: Depression and insomnia were significantly higher in the case group and control group, respectively (p <0.05), but other symptoms of menopause were not significantly different in the two groups (P>0.05). In the case group, the overall quality of lifewas assessed as good in 36.3% of patients. Also, the quality of life in the control group had the lowest score relevant to the item Neshat with an average of 55.6 and the highest score related to the item of social performance with an average of 73.25.
Conclusion: According to the results, the symptoms of menopause in women with breast cancer were not much different from women without breast cancer. Meanwhile, the quality of life of women with a history of cancer was good.