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Friday, September 20, 2024

WOMENS HEALTH

The Menopause Society launches Making Menopause Work™ Initiative

THIS IS A UNION ISSUE

Unique educational and designation initiative based on new science-based Consensus Recommendations to help employers retain workers and recoup $1.8 billion in lost workdays by supporting menopausal women in the workplace

The Menopause Society

CHICAGO (Sept 13, 2024)—Menopause is a natural life transition occurring when many women are at the “top of their game.” Unsupported menopause symptoms drive up employer healthcare costs and cause roughly $1.8 billion in missed workdays. To help employers retain these valued workers and build cultures of well-being, The Menopause Society launched Making Menopause Work™ based on new science-based Consensus Recommendations. The Recommendations are published online in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

“More employers—from large corporations to small organizations—are supporting workers during menopause,” Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of The Menopause Society and director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health, said today at The Menopause Society’s Annual Meeting in Chicago.

“But more menopause-supportive workplaces are urgently needed,” Faubion continued. “Women ages 50 and older are the fastest-growing demographic group, making essential contributions to society, families, communities, and the paid and unpaid workforces. This is a moment of tremendous opportunity.”

The Menopause Society builds on its 35-year, science-based track record with the creation of Making Menopause Work. The program—which includes a free Employer Guide, an assessment, planning tools, and other resources, with an employer designation program to come—incorporates recommendations based on new scientific consensus recommendations from a multidisciplinary panel of leading medical, legal, and human resource experts.

“Employers need to take menopause symptoms seriously and also know that they’re manageable and temporary,” said Jill K. Bigler, labor attorney at Epstein Becker Green and a member of the advisory panel for the Consensus Recommendations. “Making Menopause Work is a smart, strategic move for employers. It safeguards workers’ opportunities for leadership and financial security. It retains workers and productivity. And it builds a multigenerational workplace where midlife employees hold institutional knowledge, bring calm under stress, and make wise decisions.”

Understanding menopause and creating menopause-responsive workplaces

Menopause, the end of menstrual periods, usually occurs between ages 45 and 55; although perimenopause can start as early as age 35. Symptoms are different for each person. For some, periods become irregular and then stop. Others may experience hot flashes, difficulty sleeping, memory problems, mood disturbances, vaginal dryness, or weight gain.

The Society’s Consensus Recommendations cite a survey by the Society for Women’s Health Research showing that two out of five people had considered looking for or had found a new job because of menopause symptoms. Not only do employers risk losing talent and revenues when they ignore menopause, they also face greater costs for healthcare as well as the cost of replacing and training workers.

Creating a supportive workplace culture is the first step in turning these numbers around. The Employer Guide supports employers, managers, and supervisors to do this, including opening conversations for those who want it, understanding how to hear and support people’s needs, and recognizing menopause as a normal part of life for half the population.

From there, the Employer Guide helps employers update policies, benefits, and environments, including offering the following:

Health insurance plans that include adequate and affordable coverage for menopause-related care
Access to adequate bathrooms and flexible breaks to use them—vital for people with heavy or unpredictable bleeding
Improved ventilation and updated uniforms with breathable, flexible fabrics—a game changer for people experiencing hot flashes
Quiet work environments and flexible deadlines, which improve focus for people experiencing insomnia, anxiety, or brain fog
Peer support networks, employee resource groups and employee assistance programs, which can help people know they’re not going through menopause alone

Employers or employees interested in learning more about this important initiative should visit menopause.org/workplace.

The Menopause Society (formerly The North American Menopause Society) is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering health care professionals to improve the health of women during the menopause transition and beyond. Employers who support Making Menopause Work become part of a movement that includes more than 2,000 health care professionals who have earned The Menopause Society’s Certified Practitioner (MSCP) credential, along with tens of thousands of people who rely on The Menopause Guidebook, the most complete consumer menopause resource available.

Not in the mood for sex after menopause?

A new study suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy could be key in improving sexual function in postmenopausal women

The Menopause Society

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept 10, 2024)—Many women report a decline in sexual function, including desire, when transitioning through menopause. Such problems can contribute to poor self-image and negatively affect physical and emotional well-being. A new study suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy may be a safe and effective treatment for mitigating sexual concerns during this period. Results of the study will be presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society in Chicago September 10-14.

Partially due to declining estrogen levels, 68% to 87% of peri- and postmenopausal women express sexual concerns. Despite such high prevalence and negative impacts, treatment options–particularly nonpharmacological ones–are quite limited. In response, researchers initiated a small study to evaluate the efficacy of a four-session individual cognitive behavioral therapy protocol for improving sexual functioning (eg, desire, arousal, pain, satisfaction). Secondary objectives included assessing body image, relationship satisfaction, menopause symptoms (such as hot flashes), depression, and anxiety during peri- and postmenopause.

The researchers found that participants in this study experienced a significant improvement in multiple areas of sexual functioning, body image and couple satisfaction, as well as a significant decrease in menopause symptoms, depression, and anxiety, and self-reported overall health. In addition, 100% of participants indicated they were very satisfied with the treatment and that it helped them cope with their symptoms more effectively.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study that has examined the efficacy of a cognitive behavioral therapy protocol specifically aimed to improve sexual concerns experienced during peri- and postmenopause,” says Dr. Sheryl Green, lead study author from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. “Results suggest that this type of therapy leads to significant improvements across several important sexual concern domains, and we hope this study will provide the basis for larger randomized clinical trials in the future.”

More detailed results will be discussed at the 2024 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society as part of the Top Scoring Abstract Session presentation titled “Cognitive behavioral therapy for sexual concerns during peri- and postmenopause, a clinical trial.”

“This study is important to women experiencing sexual health related issues and provides their healthcare professionals with another nonpharmacologic treatment option to discuss with their patients,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society.

Both Drs. Green and Faubion are available for interviews prior to the Annual Meeting.

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit the newly redesigned www.menopause.org.

The Menopause Society (formerly The North American Menopause Society) is dedicated to empowering healthcare professionals and providing them with the tools and resources to improve the health of women during the menopause transition and beyond. As the leading authority on menopause since 1989, the nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization serves as the independent, evidence-based resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, the media, and the public and leads the conversation about improving women’s health and healthcare experiences. To learn more, visit menopause.org.

Wednesday, September 09, 2026

Menopause is missing from most electronic health records, study finds

Study of nearly 400,000 participants in the NIH All of Us Research Program finds menopause inconsistently documented in electronic health records

University of Colorado Anschutz

Key Findings:

A CU Anschutz study of nearly 396,000 women in the NIH All of Us Research Program found that menopause was documented in electronic health records (EHRs) for only about 7% of women in the dataset and 14% of women who reported menopause in the survey.
Researchers identified approximately 193,000 menopause observations in survey data, nearly seven times more than the roughly 28,000 menopause diagnoses in EHR data.
Important information, including age at menopause, was also frequently unavailable in electronic health records and survey.
More consistent collection of menopause and reproductive health information is necessary to strengthen research into menopause, disease risk and long-term health.

AURORA, Colo. (Sept. 8, 2026) – Menopause is frequently missing from women’s electronic health records, according to a University of Colorado Anschutz study of nearly 396,000 women participating in the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program.

Researchers found that menopause appeared nearly seven times more often in participant surveys than in electronic health records (EHRs). The findings, published in Menopause, highlight both the potential of large-scale research programs to improve understanding of menopause and the need to routinely capture reproductive health information.

“Ultimately, we cannot study what we do not measure. We cannot treat what we do not know,” said Audrey Hendricks, associate professor of bioinformatics at CU Anschutz and the study’s principal investigator. “Menopause has enormous implications for women’s health, but if we don’t consistently capture when menopause occurs and other important reproductive health information, we limit our ability to understand how this transition affects disease risk and health outcomes.”

Menopause is a physiological transition that can affect cardiometabolic health and many other aspects of women’s health. Yet relatively little is known about how factors such as the timing and type of menopause influence health outcomes across diverse populations.

Large-scale initiatives such as the NIH All of Us Research Program offer an opportunity to study those questions by bringing together information from participant surveys, electronic health records and genomic data. But researchers can answer menopause-related health questions using these datasets only when key reproductive health information is available.

How often is menopause documented in electronic health records?

Researchers compared menopause-related information reported by participants through surveys with menopause diagnoses recorded in their EHRs.

They identified approximately 193,000 menopause observations in survey data, compared with roughly 28,000 menopause diagnoses in EHR data. Menopause was documented in EHRs for only about 7% of women in the dataset.

Nearly all participants with a menopause diagnosis in their EHR also reported menopause in survey data, suggesting that EHR diagnoses generally aligned with participants’ own reports when the information was present. However, far fewer women had menopause documented in their electronic health records.

Important details about menopause were also frequently unavailable in EHR data, including age at menopause, an important factor researchers may want to examine when studying women’s risk of chronic disease.

Why does missing menopause data matter for women’s health research?

Missing menopause information can make it more difficult for researchers to study how the menopause transition relates to health and disease.

The findings provide guidance for researchers using All of Us data, including how to define menopause-related study populations, design studies and calculate the number of participants needed to answer important research questions.

More broadly, the researchers say the findings point to a fundamental gap in how women’s health information is collected.

“We have an enormous opportunity to use large-scale datasets to understand women’s health across the menopause transition and to identify who may be at greater risk for disease,” said Hendricks. “But we need to make sure that the information researchers need is actually being collected. We must do a better job of capturing women’s health information, including reproductive health and measures related to menopause.”

Better menopause data could strengthen future research

As the NIH All of Us Research Program continues to grow, more complete and consistent collection of menopause and reproductive health information could help researchers better understand how the menopause transition relates to health and disease.

Improving the availability of this information could also help researchers investigate how factors such as age at menopause relate to disease risk and health outcomes across diverse populations and ultimately contribute to better care for millions of women.

About the University of Colorado Anschutz
The University of Colorado Anschutz is a world-class academic medical campus leading transformative advances in science, medicine, education and patient care. The campus includes the University of Colorado’s health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked independent hospitals - UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado - which see nearly three million adult and pediatric patient visits each year. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, CU Anschutz delivers life-changing treatments, exceptional patient care and top-tier professional training. The campus conducts world-renowned research supported by $890 million in funding, including $762 million in sponsored awards and $128 million in philanthropic gifts for research.

Journal

Menopause

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000002884

Article Publication Date

8-Sep-2026

Wednesday, August 09, 2023

New survey confirms need for more menopause education in residency programs

Lack of standardized menopause curriculum and access to menopause-specific educational materials leaves many healthcare professionals ill-equipped to manage needs of record numbers of menopausal women

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE MENOPAUSE SOCIETY

CLEVELAND, Ohio (August 9, 2023)—Despite the fact that nearly 90 million women in the United States are projected to be postmenopausal by 2060, menopause remains low on the priority list of many residency programs. A new survey reveals the lack of a standardized menopause curriculum and limited access to menopause educational resources for residents. Results of the survey are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

Because women today are living longer, it is not surprising that there are a record number of postmenopausal women. And, that number is only expected to grow, with women spending roughly onethird of their lifetimes in menopause. Despite the increased demand for menopause care and education, many obstetrics and gynecology trainees graduate from their residency programs with gaps in their education regarding the management of menopause symptoms and related conditions.

When the last needs assessment was published for menopause education in 2013, it confirmed that most residents felt that they had limited knowledge and needed to learn more about the various areas of menopause medicine, including hormone therapy and bone health and related conditions such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. At the time, only 20.8% of residents stated that their program had a formal menopause curriculum. Based on the results of this newest survey, it appears that the situation has not improved much, with only 31.3% of the obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors who responded reporting they had any type of menopause curriculum as part of their residents’ training. Nearly 20% claimed they had a curriculum confined to a rotation block.

Of the programs with a menopause curriculum, 96.8% used lectures and 77.4% used assigned readings. All programs with a menopause curriculum included five or fewer menopause lectures per year for trainees, with 71.0% reporting two or fewer lectures per year. Of the respondents, 83.8% agreed or strongly agreed that their program needs more menopause educational resources.

Based on the results, researchers concluded that, nationally, most obstetrics and gynecology training programs lack the curriculum necessary to effectively prepare residents to manage menopausal women. Moreover, there is a lack of consistency in the menopause curriculums that do exist such that there is no true level of standardized care.

Survey results are published in the article “Needs assessment of menopause education in United States obstetrics and gynecology residency training programs.”

“This study highlights the ongoing problem of the lack of education of medical trainees in menopause management. An easily accessible, standardized menopause curriculum would benefit trainees across multiple residency training programs, including obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, and family medicine, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all women have access to competent menopause care,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society.

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.

JOURNAL

Menopause

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000002234

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Needs assessment of menopause education in United States obstetrics and gynecology residency training programs

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

9-Aug-2023

Wednesday, October 08, 2025

Women with surgical menopause may exit workforce earlier, but hormone therapy could help

New study suggests that hormone therapy within the early postmenopause years may help women with early or surgical menopause remain in the workforce longer

The Menopause Society

CLEVELAND, Ohio (October 8, 2025)—Menopause before the age of 45 (known as early menopause) is associated with an increased risk of an array of serious diseases, including cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. A new study suggests that it may also force women out of the workforce prematurely, although carefully timed hormone therapy may help women remain employed. Results of the study are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

Early menopause, whether natural or surgical (removal of both ovaries), has already been considered a risk factor for multiple diseases. Women with early menopause are also at higher risk of experiencing more frequent, severe, and prolonged hot flashes and night sweats, as well as depressive symptoms. Premature morbidity and menopause symptoms can be even more pronounced in women who undergo early surgical menopause, which results in the sudden cessation of ovarian function.

Despite extensive research on the health consequences of early menopause, little is known about how it affects other aspects of women’s lives, including their ability to maintain and build their careers. A new study involving nearly 1,400 women who had undergone natural menopause, premenopause bilateral oophorectomy, or hysterectomy is one of the first known studies to not only investigate the effect of early and surgical menopause on work function but also the effect of hormone therapy as a mediator.

The researchers used sequence analysis of employment histories to define three different 10-year employment trajectories. Regression analysis was then used to assess associations between timing and type of menopause on employment. Women with early menopause were found to have less flexible working arrangements during this sensitive period. However, early natural menopause did not appear to make a woman more likely to exit the labor market earlier than women with later menopause.

Surgical menopause, in contrast, was found to be associated with an increased risk of labor market exit, especially for women aged 45 years or older at the time of surgery. Hormone therapy was shown to help reduce the risk of labor-market exit for women with both early natural menopause and surgical menopause. Based on the results, the researchers advocate for workplace policies that consider women’s diverse menopause experiences.

Study results are published in the article “The associations of early and surgical menopause with 10-year employment trajectories bracketing final menstruation or surgery.”

“This study found that early natural menopause and surgical menopause were linked with women’s employment trajectories and further suggests that hormone therapy within the early postmenopause years may help women remain in the workforce,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society. “These findings add to the accumulating evidence that menopause-related symptoms can adversely affect women in the workplace and that targeted interventions may minimize the negative effect on employment.”

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.

The Menopause Society is dedicated to empowering healthcare professionals and providing them with the tools and resources to improve the health of women during the menopause transition and beyond. As the leading authority on menopause since 1989, the nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization serves as the independent, evidence-based resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, the media, and the public and leads the conversation about improving women’s health and healthcare experiences. To learn more, visit menopause.org.

Journal

Menopause

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000002640

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

The associations of early and surgical menopause with 10-year employment trajectories bracketing final menstruation or surgery

Article Publication Date

8-Oct-2025

Friday, June 05, 2026

Infertility may lead to earlier menopause

A new study suggests that women with primary infertility have an increased risk of early menopause and collectively underwent menopause 1 year earlier

The Menopause Society

CLEVELAND, Ohio (June 3, 2026)—The average woman spends more than one-third of her life in menopause. Some women, however, must deal with menopause-related symptoms longer and face added health problems because of premature menopause (before age 40) or early menopause (before age 45). A new study found that infertility may be a risk factor for early menopause. Results of the study are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

Infertility is a common condition, affecting one in six people globally. Not only does infertility affect family planning, but it also affects long-term health. People with infertility have been found to have higher rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease. The cause of infertility varies but is often linked to genetic, hormone, in utero, or lifestyle factors.

Previous studies have been conducted to determine whether there is a link between infertility and both premature and early menopause but with mixed results. These prior studies did not consider the effect of different types of infertility.

A new study involving nearly 700 persons (of which roughly half had been diagnosed with primary infertility) found that women with a history of primary infertility underwent natural menopause 1 year earlier than those without such history, and more notably, those with a history of unexplained infertility or endometriosis had an increased risk of early menopause. There was no association found between infertility and premature menopause.

Premature and early menopause are concerns because they are associated with long-term health consequences such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and neurocognitive disorders. Risks for premature and early menopause include tobacco use, low body mass index, nulliparity, and early menarche. In contrast, women with increased parity (childbirths) and a history of oral contraceptive use have been linked to later menopause.

According to the researchers, given the systemic and long-term health effects of early menopause, women with a diagnosis of primary fertility may benefit from additional counseling and should be encouraged to pursue evaluation and treatment if they experience new-onset loss of menstrual cycles.

Survey results are published in the article “Infertility and age of menopause in a longitudinal cohort of women with primary infertility.”

“This study shows that women with primary infertility, specifically those with unexplained infertility or a history of endometriosis, were at risk for early menopause. Given that early menopause is linked to adverse long-term health consequences, these women may benefit from counseling that they are at risk of early menopause. This will allow them to monitor for early menopause and to seek treatment with hormone therapy, if indicated,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society.

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.

Journal

Menopause

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000000002809

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Infertility and age at menopause in a longitudinal cohort of women with primary infertility

Article Publication Date

3-Jun-2026

Sunday, September 06, 2026

Menopause remains inconsistently documented in electronic health record systems

New scoping review highlights how documentation inconsistencies and gaps hamper quality clinical treatment, research, and positive health outcomes for midlife women

The Menopause Society

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept 2, 2026)—More attention than ever is being paid today to midlife women’s health, including the menopause transition. However, a new scoping review reveals that ongoing inconsistencies and gaps in documentation of symptoms, menopause status, and reproductive stage in electronic health record (EHR) systems are preventing consistent quality care, research analysis, and positive health outcomes. Scoping review results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

Approximately 1.3 million US women enter the menopause transition each year, with an estimated 1.1 billion women globally classified as postmenopausal. Although menopause is a normal life stage, it is associated with a wide range of symptoms and long-term health consequences affecting cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurologic, and mental health systems. Common symptoms, including hot flashes, sleep disturbances, mood changes, joint pain, and genitourinary symptoms, are frequently reported but are often inconsistently documented in clinical records.

Accurate classification of reproductive aging is essential for both clinical care and research. However, in routine clinical practice, menopause status and symptoms are often inferred from proxy indicators such as age ranges, diagnosis codes, or medication use rather than documented through structured staging approaches. Electronic health records offer significant potential to support longitudinal monitoring of menopause-related health, yet menopause data are frequently incomplete, inconsistently coded, or embedded in unstructured clinical notes data.

Several validated symptom-assessment tools exist, but these instruments are not routinely incorporated into structured EHR workflows or mapped to standardized clinical terminology. As a result, menopause-related information in EHRs may be fragmented across providers and institutions, limiting longitudinal tracking, care coordination, and secondary use of clinical data for research.

A new study sought to examine how menopause status and symptoms are identified and represented in EHR-based studies and to synthesize current documentation practices, limitations, and opportunities for developing standardized menopause data elements. It concluded that menopause remains inconsistently represented in EHRs, reflecting structural documentation gaps that constrain longitudinal tracking, clinical decision-making, and research reproductivity due to heterogeneity. It suggests that the development of standardized menopause-common data elements, including structured stage and symptom documentation, will require coordinated, multidisciplinary efforts to improve data quality and support scalable menopause research. The scoping review concludes that such consistency is critical to advancing menopause care.

Study results are published in the article “Bridging the menopause data gap: a scoping review of status, symptoms, and trends in electronic health records.”

“The authors conclude that broader standardization and implementation of validated screening tools within EHRs can enhance clinical care by standardizing staging, informing treatment protocols, facilitating early recognition and management of symptoms, enabling assessment of treatment response, and educating patients about modifiable risk factors during a critical period in women’s lives. In addition to the clinical relevance, addressing the menopause data gap can also inform research by improving the comparability of treatments and interventions across more homogeneous populations,” says Dr. Monica Christmas, associate medical director for The Menopause Society.

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.

Journal

Menopause

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000000002868

Method of Research

Systematic review

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Bridging the menopause data gap: A scoping review of status, symptoms, and trends in electronic health records

Article Publication Date

2-Sep-2026