Shirley Weir at her home in Port Moody. She says jokes about “hot flashes” are common, incorrect and misleading, said Weir. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG
Denise Ryan Published Nov 05, 2024
Menopause study uncovers what women have long known: it’s real, so are the barriers, lack of support and discrimination
A new study in B.C. shows what women have long known: Menopause brings significant impacts on physical and mental health, and has major social, economic and work-related repercussions.
The study, HER-BC: Health and Economics Research on Midlife Women in British Columbia, by the Women’s Health Research Institute, in collaboration with the B.C. Women’s Health Foundation and Pacific Blue Cross, is the first of its kind in B.C. to look at the complex impact of perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause on quality of all aspects of women’s lives.
The study found that stigma, and the negative associations of aging, are barriers to women talking openly about their symptoms and getting the health care they need.
“Menopause is still clouded in shame and secrecy,” said Dr. Lori Brotto, lead scientist and principal investigator on the study.
Much more needs to be done to provide appropriate health care and social and workplace supports and more needs to be done to train health-care providers, said Brotto. In Canada, only 5.92 per cent of scientific research is female-specific.
The study examines the health concerns of mid-life women in B.C., including their quality of life, the psychological impacts of menopause, the impact of menopause on work and caregiving and barriers to accessing health care services and the health system.
“Ninety per cent of our participants had at least one moderate to severe symptom, and that runs contrary to common lore which is ‘well, it’s just hot flashes and night sweats,” said Brotto. “Women go to their GPs or other health-care providers and are often told get used to it, it’s normal, you’re not going to die. Their experience is minimized.”
They are left to seek care elsewhere.
The study found that 43.5 per cent of respondents had to access at least one extended health-care provider for treatment in the last year, most commonly massage therapists, naturopaths, mental health professionals, physiotherapists or acupuncturists, most often paying out of pocket for those services.
The economic impacts are wide-ranging.
Women make up 48 per cent of the workforce in B.C. A third of the study respondents (32 per cent) said menopause symptoms affect their job. A quarter of respondents (24 per cent) reported missing days of work in the previous 12 months due to menopause symptoms. Almost one in 10 (9.4 per cent) had to turn down a job promotion or career advancement due to menopause symptoms, and some respondents even reported being fired.
And 41.2 per cent of respondents reported a concurrent mental health condition, highlighting the need for improved mental health support during the menopause transition.
Shirley Weir, founder of the Menopause Chicks community and co-lead on the study, has been providing support for women left to navigate their menopause-related health issues alone for over a decade.
