The Effect of Gratitude Meditation on Perceived Stress Caused by Vasomotor Symptoms in Menopausal Women in Tonekabon 2019

Introduction: Menopausal vasomotor symptoms are one of the major issues reducing women's quality of life. Thus, this study aims to determine the effectiveness of gratitude meditation on perceived stress caused by vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: The present study was quasi-experimental, and its design was pretest-posttest with follow-up (one month later). The statistical population was women aged 55-45 in Tonekabon with normal menopause and vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats) and records in health centers in 2019. Participants were selected by eligible methods after obtaining informed consent; then, they were randomly divided into two groups of 15 experimental and control. The experimental group was trained in the 8-week gratitude meditation program based on the "Greenberg" Meditation Instruction (2010) and the Islamic Gratitude Meditation program of "Esfahanians" et al. (2016), while the control group did not receive any intervention. The instrument used was Cohen Perceived Stress Questionnaire (1983). Data were entered into Spss16 software and analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: There was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of mean perceived stress, which was stable until the follow-up stage. Conclusion: Gratitude meditation is a method appropriate to Iranian women and can be used to reduce their perceived stress during menopause.