Predictors of Religious Orientation Attitudes in Menopausal Women (MENO-RO)

August 26, 2026 updated by: Aslıhan Turan, KTO Karatay University

Predictors of Attitudes Toward Religious Orientation in Menopausal Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

This descriptive, cross-sectional study examines whether the severity of menopausal symptoms and attitudes toward sexual myths predict intrinsic religious orientation in menopausal women. Menopause is a multidimensional transition with biological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects, and in societies with a strong cultural and religious fabric women may draw on religious orientation as a coping and meaning-making resource. Participants are healthy women aged 49 to 59 with a diagnosis of menopause and no chronic disease, recruited in Konya, Turkey. Data are collected face to face using a personal information form, the Menopause Rating Scale, the Intrinsic Religious Orientation Scale and the Sexual Myths Scale, and analysed with multiple regression.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Background:

Menopause is a multidimensional transition in a woman's life with biological, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions. With increasing life expectancy, women spend roughly a third of their lives in the menopausal period. The decline in oestrogen is associated with hot flushes, sleep disturbance, mood fluctuations and sexual dysfunction, which can adversely affect quality of life. The literature emphasises that the menopause experience is shaped not only biologically but also by sociocultural factors and religious beliefs, and that religious and spiritual orientation can increase psychological resilience and reduce anxiety and stress. Sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in this period, and sexuality is closely linked to lifestyle, cultural roles, religious beliefs and societal myths; low sexual awareness and adoption of sexual myths may intensify the perceived severity of menopausal symptoms.

Aim:

To determine the predictive effect of the physical and psychological symptoms of menopause and of attitudes toward sexual myths on the intrinsic religious orientation of menopausal women.

Design and setting:

Descriptive, cross-sectional design. The study population comprises healthy women aged 49 to 59 with a diagnosis of menopause and no chronic health problem, presenting to a health facility in Konya, Turkey. The sample consists of women who meet the inclusion criteria and volunteer to participate.

Sample size:

Calculated with G*Power 3. For a linear multiple regression model with a medium effect size of 0.15, power of 0.95 and a Type I error of 0.05, a minimum of 89 participants is required. Allowing for a possible 10 percent data loss, 97 participants are planned.

Measures:

A personal information form (15 items covering sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics), the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), the Intrinsic Religious Orientation Scale and the Sexual Myths Scale. Written informed consent is obtained; author permissions for the scales are obtained by email. Data are collected face to face.

Statistical analysis:

Analyses are performed with IBM SPSS Statistics v29.0. Normality is assessed with visual and analytical methods (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). Descriptive statistics are reported as mean and standard deviation or median (minimum to maximum) as appropriate. Multiple regression models are built to estimate regression coefficients and 95 percent confidence intervals for the relationships between religious orientation and age, number of pregnancies, menopause duration, menopause symptom severity and sexual myths. Group comparisons use the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests where appropriate. Significance is set at p less than 0.05.

Ethics:

Institutional permission and ethics approval will be obtained from the Non-Drug and Non-Medical Device Research Ethics Board of KTO Karatay University before the study begins. Written informed consent is obtained from all participants.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

97

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
      • Konya, Turkey (Türkiye)
        • Recruiting
        • Recruitment site (to be specified), Konya
        • Contact:
          • Aslihan Turan
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Aslihan Turan

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy women aged 49 to 59 with a diagnosis of menopause and no chronic health problem, presenting to a health facility in Konya, Turkey, who volunteer and provide written informed consent.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Woman aged 49 to 59 years
  • Diagnosis of menopause
  • No chronic health problem
  • Volunteers to participate and provides written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Presence of a chronic disease (e.g. cardiac disease, diabetes, hypertension)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Menopausal women aged 49 to 59
Healthy women aged 49 to 59 with a diagnosis of menopause and no chronic disease (such as cardiac disease, diabetes or hypertension), recruited in Konya, Turkey, who volunteer to participate. Participants complete a single battery of self-report scales collected face to face; no intervention is applied.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intrinsic religious orientation (Intrinsic Religious Orientation Scale)
Time Frame: Single assessment at enrollment (Day 1)
The Intrinsic Religious Orientation Scale (Hoge, 1972; Turkish standardisation by Karaca, 2001) contains 10 items measuring intrinsic religious motivation. Seven items are positively worded and three are negatively worded and reverse coded. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert format scored from 0 (weakest) to 4 (strongest), giving a total score of 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating stronger intrinsic religious orientation.
Single assessment at enrollment (Day 1)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Menopausal symptom severity (Menopause Rating Scale, MRS)
Time Frame: Single assessment at enrollment (Day 1)
The Menopause Rating Scale (Schneider et al., 2000; Turkish adaptation by Can Gurkan, 2005) is an 11-item scale with three subscales: somatic complaints, psychological complaints and urogenital complaints. Each item is rated on a 5-point scale from 0 (none) to 4 (very severe), giving a total score of 0 to 44, with higher scores indicating greater symptom severity.
Single assessment at enrollment (Day 1)
Sexual myths (Sexual Myths Scale, SMS)
Time Frame: Single assessment at enrollment (Day 1)
The Sexual Myths Scale (Golbasi et al., 2016) is a 28-item, 5-point Likert scale with eight subscales (sexual orientation, gender, age and sexuality, sexual behaviour, masturbation, sexual violence, sexual intercourse and sexual satisfaction). The total score ranges from 28 to 140, with higher scores indicating a greater likelihood of holding sexual myths.
Single assessment at enrollment (Day 1)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

KTO Karatay University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Aslihan Turan, KTO Karatay University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 26, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 2, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 1, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MENO-RELIG-2026

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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