Osteoporosis and milk intake among Korean women in California: relationship with acculturation to U.S. lifestyle

Factors influencing healthy menopause among immigrant women: a scoping review

Background

Many factors influence the menopausal transition and the complexity of this transition increases with the addition of immigration transition. This review aims to identify the factors that influence the menopausal transition for immigrant women based on ecosocial theory.

Methods

A scoping review of English publications was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines using CINAHL, AgeLine, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ERIC, Nursing and Allied Health Database, PsycARTICLES, Sociology Database, and Education Research Complete. Thirty-seven papers were included for this review.

Results

The factors which influence the menopausal transition for immigrant women were grouped into three categories: (a) personal factors, (b) familial factors, and (c) community and societal factors. Personal factors include income and employment, physical and psychological health, perceptions of menopause, and acculturation. Familial factors include partner support, relationships with children, and balancing family, work, and personal duties. Community and societal factors encompassed social network, social support, healthcare services, traditional cultural expectations, and discrimination in host countries.

Conclusions

Interventions addressing the menopausal transition for immigrant women should be designed considering different psychosocial factors and actively work to address systemic barriers that negatively impact their transition.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12905-021-01327-z.

The concept of acculturation in epidemiological research among migrant populations: A systematic review

•Acculturation is a widely used concept in epidemiological research.•There are various ways to measure acculturation using proxies or scales; often an acculturation score is calculated.•Studies often show inconsistencies in operationalization and measurement of the concept of acculturation.•The exact outcome is often unclear; this creates a lack of comparability, generalizability and transferability of the results.•Health relevant proxies such as language skills or feeling of belonging should be measured without calculating a score.