Critical Appraisal of Research Article on Menopause Experiences

This report presents a critical appraisal of a research article titled "Exploring Australian Aboriginal Women’s experiences of menopause: a descriptive study." The report examines the strengths and weaknesses of the research methods, including snowball sampling, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and thematic analysis. It evaluates the results, highlighting the themes that emerged from the interviews and discussions, such as symptoms experienced by women, the role of men, and a lack of understanding about menopause. The report also discusses the ethical considerations of the research, including the importance of participant anonymity and informed consent. The analysis reveals that there is a lack of understanding about menopause among Australian Aboriginal women and their families, and the article's discussion and results are assessed in detail. The report concludes with the significance of the study's findings and the implications for public health.

Critical Appraisal of
Research Article

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
Critical appraisal of the strength and weakness of methods..................................................................3
Critical appraisal of the strengths and weakness of results and discussion..........................................4
Ethical Considerations..............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................8
JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research – Appendix................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Menopause can be defined as a natural phenomenon of stopping of a woman’s menstrual
cycle. Women generally experience menopause by the age of 52 but there can be certain factors
that can cause sudden menopause and these can include genetics or underlying conditions (Goh
and et. al., 2019). It has been found that in Australian women, menopause generally occurs at an
average age of 52.9 years and it involves various troubling symptoms such as night sweats, hot
flushes, psychological distress etc. In Australia, nearly 2.5% of the population comprises of
Indigenous people but they carry a burden of chronic illness. The respective report is a critical
appraisal of an article titled “Exploring Australian Aboriginal Women’s experiences of
menopause: a descriptive study”. The report includes a critical appraisal of the strength as well as
weakness of the methods that are used in the article. There is also a critical appraisal of the
strength as well as weakness of results as well as the discussion.
Critical appraisal of the strength and weakness of methods
The participants of the respective article comprised of Australian Aboriginal women in
order to develop a better understanding about the research topic. The method included recruiting
the participants in a regional center in Western Australia using the method snowball sampling.
The strengths of this particular sampling method are that it is easier to find subjects to be
included in the sample as they belong to reliable sources. Also, this method of sampling is cost
effective, which means that the researcher does not have to put in unnecessary amounts of cost in
order to form a sample. But there are also some weaknesses of snowball sampling, such as there
is a potential risk of bias in the sample because people usually refer those whom they know and
have similar traits (Snowball Sampling: Definition, Method, Advantages and Disadvantages,
2021). Apart from this, there are chances that the participants might show a lack of cooperation
and even refuse to be a part of the study.
In order to collect data for the article, the researcher used semi-structured interviews as
well as focus group discussions (Khajehei and Doherty, 2018). The major strength of these
methods was that these discussions utilized cultural technique that was more appropriate in order
to increase the overall engagement among the Aboriginal women. But the weaknesses of semi-
structured interviews is that they do not guarantee honesty from the participants and the open-

ended questions in the interviews are difficult to analyze. Also, sometimes, it can be difficult for
the researcher to compare the answers. But the strengths are that the researcher can prepare the
questions beforehand and they also encourage two-way communication between the participant
as well as the researcher. The researchers continued to ask questions from the Aboriginal women
until no new information was being obtained (Tapia and et.al., 2019). As far as focus group
discussions are concerned, the strengths are that the researcher can save a lot of time and can
measure the customer reactions easily and develop an in-depth understanding of their views. But,
some weaknesses of this method include the participants cannot speak up their opinions freely
and there are chances that the results obtained are biased to some extent.
It is mentioned that the researcher has used thematic analysis in order to analyze the data.
There are different strengths as well as weaknesses of the same (Koleade and et.al., 2020). For
example, the strengths of a thematic analysis include that the approach is unsupervised which
means that there is no need to set up categories in advance. Also, it is one of the most flexible
methods wherein the researcher can modify the same based on the requirements of the research.
The main goal of a thematic analysis is to identify the different themes or patterns in a research.
A good thematic analysis interprets the information in an effective manner. but there are also
certain disadvantages of thematic analysis such as reliability is one of the major concerns and
also, there might be a chance that the variation in data might get missed. Apart from this, it can
also make it difficult for the researcher to focus on a particular thing because there are different
patterns as well as themes that have to be analyzed.
Critical appraisal of the strengths and weakness of results and discussion
On analyzing the article, it was found that the Aboriginal Health workers were very
supportive as well as encouraging towards the respective research. They agreed to answer the
interview questions and not only this, they also encouraged other Aboriginal women to be a part
of the interview process (Quiroga, Larroy and González-Castro, 2017). This was one of the
results of the results and the other one was that most of the women who participated in the
interview process spoke freely about their views as well as experiences. Not only this, they were
also willing to talk about menopause and did not shy away from sharing their opinions as well as
experiences. Another strong point about the results of the research is that there were certain
themes that were emerged from the interviews and the group discussions were the symptoms

experienced by the women, menopause in different stages of life, the role of men during
menopause as well as a lack of understanding about the concept of menopause among women.
But one of the weaknesses of the results that is observed is that there was one Aboriginal woman
who did not recognize the term ’menopause’.
One of the other weaknesses that have been observed in the results section of the article is
that due to a fear of symptoms of menopause due to some illness such as a heart problem or
diabetes are some of the reasons that prevent Aboriginal women to seek help from others
(Rezazadeh and Hoover, 2018). Traditional medication became cited by using one participant but
no precise treatment become discussed. Other methods of coping with the signs and
symptoms were “looking your weight”, Exercise, song, use of alcohol and traveling own
family. A feel of humour was additionally regarded as crucial to assist relieve stressors.
Therefore, these are some of the strengths as well as weaknesses of the results of the article.
It was observed that most of the women were familiar with the term “Change of Life” or
“The Change”. One of the weaknesses that was observed while analyzing the results was that
different number of participants understood the word menopause through different terms. This
was somewhat disappointing because it is important to create awareness about the concept. Apart
from this, it was observed that as Aboriginal women approached menopause, they had mixed and
negative attitudes. It was also observed that the number of women with a negative attitude was
more among the participants. One of the other weaknesses that was observed in the results of the
article was that there was a lack of knowledge about menopause as some of the women had
misinterpreted the signs as well as symptoms. It was observed that hot flushes or night sweats
were some signs and symptoms that many participants had reported. After analyzing the results
of the respective article, it was analyzed that a significant number of men did not have an
understanding about the phenomenon of menopause. And due to this, there was a strain in the
relationships with their wives (Semenova and et.al., 2018). This is a weakness because it is
important to create awareness among the people regarding menopause.
It was understood that the culture of Aboriginal between men as well as women and one
of the other weaknesses was that a lack of understanding among men was one of the factors that
affected the overall relationship with their wives. Only two of the participants stated that their
partner was understanding about their condition. But there were also certain strengths such as

some mothers were supportive of their daughters and were a key source of learnt experience for
their daughters. On the other hand, as far as the discussion is concerned, there are certain
strengths as well as weaknesses. It can be said that menopause is not a fixed social or physical
experience and can vary from woman to woman. One of the major weaknesses that is mentioned
in the discussion part was that there is a lack of understanding about menopause in context to
Aboriginal women of Australia as well as their families (Exploring Australian Aboriginal
Women's experiences of menopause: a descriptive study, 2014). Another thing that was
observed, was that despite of a number of resources available to the Australian women, it was
disappointing to note a lack of understanding. This is because it can further lead to a negative
impact on the overall health of the women.
But the other weakness is that it was not clear that if the lack of understanding among the
Aboriginal women was due to the use of Western terms or a lack of discussion between the
women as well as the health professionals (Shifren and et.al., 2019). It was found that one of the
weaknesses within the discussion part of the article was that the Aboriginal women did not have
access to adequate resources and as a result, there was a lack of understanding among them as
well as their family members. but one of the strengths that was observed was that the family
members of some women were understanding and supportive of them during the time of
menopause. Therefore, it can be said that the discussion part of the article is effective and will be
helpful for the readers in creating awareness about the topic of menopause as well as its impact
on the health of women. but one of the major weaknesses that were observed was that due to a
lack of understanding among the women about menopause, they attributed the symptoms of the
same to various other sources. It was also disappointing to find that there were some women who
did not wish to obtain more information about the respective topic.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations play an important role in a research and contribute to its overall
effectiveness. The researcher has ensured that different ethics were taken into account such as
the article was based on the Aboriginal women. Thus, the researcher has interviewed Australian
Aboriginal women in order to ensure that the results obtained were reliable as well as authentic.
Apart from this, the researcher has briefed the participants of the research about the topic. This
helped the researcher in obtaining useful insights as well as valuable results about the topic

(Shorey and Ng, 2019). Apart from this, the researcher has kept in mind that all of the
information that is gathered from the respondents is kept anonymous or confidential. Ethical
considerations play an important role and contribute to the overall effectiveness of the article.
The participants were given the option of withdrawing from the research at any time (Stanzel,
Hammarberg and Fisher, 2018). Abiding by ethics can help in completing the articles in an
effective manner as well as obtaining valuable results. Also, the researcher has ensured that the
interviews were conducted until no new information was obtained from the participants. Ethical
approval for this research changed into given by way of the University of Western Australia
Human Research Ethics Office and the Western Australian Aboriginal Health Information and
Ethics Committee (WAAHEC). Therefore, it can be said that ethical considerations can affect
the overall effectiveness of the results to a great extent.
CONCLUSION
From the above critical appraisal of the article, it can be concluded that there is still a
certain percentage of Australian Aboriginal women who lack an understanding about the
phenomenon of menopause. Also, different women have different terms to refer to the same.
Also, it can be said that their family members do not have a proper understanding about the
same. Menopause is a natural phenomenon that occurs in women who are in the age group of 52
or around. It is important to make sure that there is an awareness about the same among the
women. a researcher can use different methods in order to collect data from the respondents as
well as develop a better understanding of the results. Also, the method of data collection that is
used by the researcher in the given article, i.e., semi-structured interviews as well as focus group
discussions, have their respective strengths as well as weaknesses.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Goh, M. and et. al., 2019. Identifying and addressing osteoporosis knowledge gaps in women
with premature ovarian insufficiency and early menopause: A mixed‐methods study.
Clinical endocrinology, 91(4), pp.498-507.
Khajehei, M. and Doherty, M., 2018. Women's experience of their sexual function during
pregnancy and after childbirth: a qualitative survey. British Journal of Midwifery, 26(5),
pp.318-328.
Koleade, A. and et.al., 2020. Female-specific risk factors associated with risk of ACO (asthma
COPD overlap) in aboriginal people. Journal of Asthma, 57(9), pp.925-932.
Quiroga, A., Larroy, C. and González-Castro, P., 2017. Climacteric symptoms and their relation
to feminine self-concept. Climacteric, 20(3), pp.274-279.
Rezazadeh, M.S. and Hoover, M.L., 2018. Women’s experiences of immigration to Canada: A
review of the literature. Canadian Psychology/psychologie canadienne, 59(1), p.76.
Semenova, N.V. and et.al., 2018. Association of the melatonin circadian rhythms with clock
3111T/C gene polymorphism in Caucasian and Asian menopausal women with insomnia.
Chronobiology international, 35(8), pp.1066-1076.
Shifren, J.L. and et.al., 2019. Women's experience of vulvovaginal symptoms associated with
menopause. Menopause, 26(4), pp.341-349.
Shorey, S. and Ng, E.D., 2019. The experiences and needs of Asian women experiencing
menopausal symptoms: a meta-synthesis. Menopause, 26(5), pp.557-569.
Stanzel, K.A., Hammarberg, K. and Fisher, J., 2018. Experiences of menopause, self-
management strategies for menopausal symptoms and perceptions of health care among
immigrant women: a systematic review. Climacteric, 21(2), pp.101-110.
Tapia, K.A. and et.al., 2019. Mammographic densities of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women
living in Australia’s Northern Territory. International journal of public health, 64(7),
pp.1085-1095.
Online
Exploring Australian Aboriginal Women's experiences of menopause: a descriptive study. 2014.
[Online]. Available through:<
https://file.globalacademicresearch.com/projectfiles/internal_cust_document/
Jurgensonetal_1617180090.pdf>.
Snowball Sampling: Definition, Method, Advantages and Disadvantages. 2021. [Online].
Available through:< https://www.questionpro.com/blog/snowball-sampling/>.

JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research – Appendix
1. Is there congruity between the stated philosophical perspective and the research
methodology?
yes no unclear not applicable
Explanation: There is congruity between the stated philosophical perspective as well as
the research methodology in the given article effectively.
2. Is there congruity between the research methodology and the research question or
objectives?
yes no unclear not applicable
Explanation: In the given article, the congruity between the research methodology as well
as the research questions. This is because there are no research questions in the given
article.
3. Is there congruity between the research methodology and the methods used to collect
data?
yes no unclear not applicable

Explanation: The article clearly explains the congruity between research methodology as
well as the different methods that are used to collect data for the research.
4. Is there congruity between the research methodology and the representation and analysis
of data?
yes no unclear not applicable
Explanation: It can be said that both, the research methodology as well as the
representation and analysis of data are in sync with each other.
5. Is there congruity between the research methodology and the interpretation of results?
yes no unclear not applicable
Explanation: There is congruity between the research methodology and the interpretation
of results in the given article.
6. Is there a statement locating the researcher culturally or theoretically?
yes no unclear not applicable

Explanation: It is not clear if there a statement locating the researcher culturally or
theoretically in the given article.
7. Is the influence of the researcher on the research, and vice- versa, addressed?
yes no unclear not applicable
Explanation: The influence of the researcher on the research, and vice- versa, is not
addressed in the given article. And the provided description is not clear.
8. Are participants, and their voices, adequately represented?
yes no unclear not applicable
Explanation: Yes, the participants as well as their voices are adequately represented in the
research. The participants are Australian Aboriginal women.
9. Is the research ethical according to current criteria or, for recent studies, and is there
evidence of ethical approval by an appropriate body?
yes no unclear not applicable

Explanation: The research is ethical according to current criteria or, for recent studies,
and there is also an evidence of ethical approval by an appropriate body
10. Do the conclusions drawn in the research report flow from the analysis, or interpretation,
of the data?
yes no unclear not applicable
Explanation: Yes, the conclusions drawn in the research report flows from the analysis, or
interpretation, of the data.