Experience and severity of menopause symptoms and effects on health-seeking behaviours: a cross-sectional online survey of community dwelling adults in the United Kingdom - BMC Women's Health
Source : https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12905-023-02506-w
Background Almost all women will experience menopause, and the symptoms can have a severely detrimental impact on their quality of life. However, there is limited research exploring health-seeking behaviours and alternative service design or consultation formats. Group consultations have been successfully deployed in perinatal and diabetic care, improving accessibility and outcomes.
Conclusion: This study highlighted a strong willingness of women aged 35–70 to participate in group consultations for menopause, with motivation being strongest amongst premenopausal women. Low awareness of self-management and lifestyle interventions to manage the symptoms of menopause highlight the need for greater outreach, research and interventions to build knowledge and confidence in the general population at scale.
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• Source: BMC Women’s Health
• Conclusions: “This study highlighted a strong willingness of women aged 35–70 to participate in group consultations for menopause, with motivation being strongest amongst premenopausal women. Low awareness of self-management and lifestyle interventions to manage the symptoms of menopause highlight the need for greater outreach, research and interventions to build knowledge and confidence in the general population at scale. Future studies should focus on investigating the effectiveness and economic impact of menopause group consultations and the lived experience of individuals participating in group consultations.”
• UK researchers investigated the needs and motivations of 953 women when seeking health information regarding menopause. They also established their willingness to take part in group-based healthcare, education, and support. On average, online survey respondents experienced 10.7 menopausal symptoms. Only 47% of those answering believed that they possessed the knowledge/tools to manage their symptoms. In total, 61% of respondents solicited advice from an HCP. The biggest reason they sought out advice was severity of symptoms. The main barrier was the perception that menopause wasn’t an important enough issue to seek out advice. Among those respondents seeking advice, 32% were prescribed transdermal HRT; 29%, oral HRT; 19%, antidepressants, 18%, local estrogen; and 6%, testosterone. In total 77% of respondents stated that they would join a group consultation for menopause, and 75% noted comfort about sharing their experiences with other patients.
• The findings of the current study indicate that “clinicians need to be more aware of the broad range of self-care strategies available to support individuals. For example, for menopausal patients suffering from insomnia, CBT-i could be recommended as it is largely considered to be the first line of treatment for insomnia,” per the authors.
• One limitation of the current study is that information was gathered during the COVID pandemic, which could have influenced patient perceptions of menopause. The electronic nature of the survey could exclude the involvement of patients without Internet access.