Impact of menopausal symptoms on work: Findings from Women in the Health and Employment after Fifty (HEAF) Study
Impact of menopausal symptoms on work: Findings from Women in the Health and Employment after Fifty (HEAF) Study
Women make up a growing proportion of the workforce and therefore many women experience menopause while in paid employment. We explored the prevalence of menopausal symptoms, the relationship between symptoms and coping with work and the risk factors associated with struggling at work during the menopause. The Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) community-based cohort of people aged 50-64 years was incepted 2013-2014 to study health and work. In 2019, female participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their menopausal symptoms, and effect of those symptoms on their ability to cope at work. 409 women were eligible for inclusion. The commonest symptoms were vasomotor (91.7%); trouble sleeping (68.2%); psychological (63.6%) and urinary (49.1%). The prevalence of reporting symptoms was similar no matter which type of occupation women were performing at the time. Around one-third of women reported moderate/severe difficulties coping at work because of menopausal symptoms. Risk factors for difficulties coping at work included: financial deprivation, poorer self-rated health, depression, and adverse psychosocial occupational factors but not physical demands. More awareness is needed amongst employers in all sectors but women with financial difficulties and those with jobs in which they feel insecure, unappreciated, or dissatisfied are at greatest risk.
Humans, Female, Menopause/psychology, Employment/psychology, Risk Factors, Surveys and Questionnaires, Emotions
D'Angelo, Stefania
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Bevilacqua, Gregorio
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Hammond, Julia
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Zaballa, Elena
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Dennison, Elaine M
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Walker-Bone, Karen
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
24 December 2022
D'Angelo, Stefania
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Bevilacqua, Gregorio
e93e3b18-7d1e-4da5-9fcd-e6b4637e1c2e
Hammond, Julia
4eb0a477-0336-41cc-830d-fca3a86a36e4
Zaballa, Elena
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Dennison, Elaine M
ee647287-edb4-4392-8361-e59fd505b1d1
Walker-Bone, Karen
ad7d1336-ed2c-4f39-ade5-da84eb412109
D'Angelo, Stefania, Bevilacqua, Gregorio, Hammond, Julia, Zaballa, Elena, Dennison, Elaine M and Walker-Bone, Karen
(2022)
Impact of menopausal symptoms on work: Findings from Women in the Health and Employment after Fifty (HEAF) Study.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20 (1).
(doi:10.3390/ijerph20010295).
Abstract
Women make up a growing proportion of the workforce and therefore many women experience menopause while in paid employment. We explored the prevalence of menopausal symptoms, the relationship between symptoms and coping with work and the risk factors associated with struggling at work during the menopause. The Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) community-based cohort of people aged 50-64 years was incepted 2013-2014 to study health and work. In 2019, female participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their menopausal symptoms, and effect of those symptoms on their ability to cope at work. 409 women were eligible for inclusion. The commonest symptoms were vasomotor (91.7%); trouble sleeping (68.2%); psychological (63.6%) and urinary (49.1%). The prevalence of reporting symptoms was similar no matter which type of occupation women were performing at the time. Around one-third of women reported moderate/severe difficulties coping at work because of menopausal symptoms. Risk factors for difficulties coping at work included: financial deprivation, poorer self-rated health, depression, and adverse psychosocial occupational factors but not physical demands. More awareness is needed amongst employers in all sectors but women with financial difficulties and those with jobs in which they feel insecure, unappreciated, or dissatisfied are at greatest risk.
Text
ijerph-20-00295
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 21 December 2022
Published date: 24 December 2022
Additional Information:
Funding: The HEAF study is funded by the Medical Research Council programme grant (MC_UU_12011/5), and by grant awards from Versus Arthritis (formerly Arthritis Research UK) (22090); and the Economic and Social Research Council and Medical Research Council jointly (ES/L002663/1). For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.
Keywords:
Humans, Female, Menopause/psychology, Employment/psychology, Risk Factors, Surveys and Questionnaires, Emotions
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 474448
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/474448
ISSN: 1660-4601
PURE UUID: 0269e38f-5223-472b-9b8c-bb1130cd79ba
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Date deposited: 22 Feb 2023 17:55
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:30
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Contributors
Author:
Stefania D'Angelo
Author:
Gregorio Bevilacqua
Author:
Julia Hammond
Author:
Elena Zaballa
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