Documentation of self-care actions taken for somatic complaints by postmenopausal Malay women living in Kelantan Malaysia

It appears that the self-care actions used by postmenopausal women in Kelantan for their somatic complaints ranged from HRT to a combination of conventional, traditional, and alternative remedies. The fraction of women taking self-care action varied from symptom to symptom and the choice of self-care action also depended upon the education level, socio-economic status and place where the respondents were domiciled. There was a tendency for the more affluent and educated women to use more of the modern practices and slightly less of the traditional remedies whereas the rural women did the opposite. This is the first study of its kind in Kelantan documenting the self-care practices of menopausal women for their somatic complaints. Clearly more studies are needed to document these practices and the effectiveness of these self-care remedies.