Menopause symptoms result in adverse work outcomes, missed workdays

Key takeaways :

• Nearly 13.4% of women reported at least one adverse work outcome due to menopause symptoms.
• Researchers estimated an annual loss of $1.8 billion in lost work time in the U.S. due to menopause symptoms.

Menopause symptoms can negatively affect work outcomes, highlighting the need for improved medical therapies and a more supportive workplace environment, according to researchers involved in a large cross-sectional Mayo Clinic study.

The researchers invited 4,440 women aged 45 to 60 years (mean age, 53.9 years) who received primary care at one of four Mayo Clinic sites to participate in a survey study. All participants reported current employment information; 93% of participants self-identified as white, 76.5% said they were married and 59.3% reported education level as college graduate or higher.

The primary outcome was self-reported adverse work outcomes related to menopause symptoms with menopause symptoms assessed by the Menopause Rating Scale.

Mean total Menopause Rating Scale was 12.1 in the cohort, which signified moderate menopause symptom burden. In total, 13.4% of women reported at least one adverse work outcome related to menopause symptoms, and 10.9% reported missing days of work due to menopause symptoms in the previous 12 months, with a median of three days missed.

Researchers observed increased odds of reporting adverse work outcomes related to menopause symptoms as menopause symptom severity increased. Women in the highest Menopause Rating Scale score quartile were 15.6 times more likely to experience an adverse work outcome compared with women in the lowest quartile (P < .001).

In addition, based on missed workdays related to menopause symptoms, researchers estimated an annual loss of $1.8 billion in the U.S.

Healio spoke with lead author Stephanie Faubion, MD, MBA, medical director for the North American Menopause Society, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health, and a Healio | Women’s Health & OB/GYN Peer Perspective Board Member about menopause symptoms’ real-world impact on women in the workplace.

Healio: Which menopause symptoms do women report as substantially affecting their work productivity and absenteeism and why?

Faubion: Women were sent a menopause questionnaire, and we did not break it down by symptoms. We have a total score, and we have a domain score. The three different domains within the total scores were associated. The three different domains are somatic symptoms, which include hot flashes, night sweats and sleep disturbance. The next category is psychological symptoms, which include anxiety, irritability and depressed mood. Then the third category is genital urinary symptoms, which include vaginal dryness and some of the sexual symptoms, as well as urinary symptoms. They were all associated even individually with adverse work outcomes, but the one that was the strongest, and that seemed to be driving it the most, was the psychological symptom domain. It’s one of the more common menopause symptoms. We know from other data that poor mood can impact women and men in the workplace. That’s why we have mental health resources at work, right? So, this is not that uncommon, but it was interesting to see.

Healio: Are different groups of women affected more than others; for example, by ethnic group or job type?

Faubion: We didn’t look at job type in this study. Although, there was a previous study published earlier this year that said it didn’t matter what kind of work women were doing, whether they had a white-collar job or did physical labor. They were all impacted by menopause symptoms. We know from previous research that it probably doesn’t matter what type of work a woman is doing, and that makes sense, especially if you think of the psychological symptom domains driving it. Women in the C-suite can be just as impacted by mood symptoms as women working physical labor jobs.

We did a subgroup analysis in our paper, but it was small, and I’m not sure major conclusions can be drawn from it just because the number was pretty small. We did see racial and ethnic differences with Black women being about three times more likely than white women to have an adverse work outcome and Hispanic women were about 1.6 times more likely.

Healio: Women may fear some discrimination in the workplace as they age. Might they be reluctant to disclose to their employer when menopause symptoms affect their work? Should they disclose this information?

Faubion: I don’t think we should force women to disclose this because they may feel that they’re at risk for discrimination. That’s a legitimate concern. But women should be able to access resources confidentially, just like they do now. For example, for mental health concerns, they can access resources with or without notifying their manager or supervisor. We need to be cognizant that many women may or may not want to have an open conversation in the workplace, although some women may, so we need to be prepared. And we need to train managers and supervisors to have sensitive conversations with women about menopause symptoms.

Healio: What would you recommend employers do to better support women with menopause in the workplace?

Faubion: This is probably a multipronged approach. Employers need to be educated about the impact of menopause on their workforce and what that’s doing to their bottom line, but they also need to then set up education and training modules for managers and supervisors. Also, women need to be educated. Women don’t always recognize that all the symptoms that can occur necessarily relate to menopause, so women need to be educated about what the symptoms are, how it might impact them, including in the workplace, and then educated about the resources that are available to them. The other part is employee health. Women need access to competent menopause care, and that may or may not be with employee health doctors. Employee health doctors typically aren’t educated at menopause management. We need to be educating those employee health people on what to look for and where they can refer women.

Healio: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Faubion: This has further-reaching consequences or implications. It’s interesting to think that women might not only be struggling in the workplace, but that they also may not be taking a promotion, they may have taken a lesser job, they might not have put their name in the hat for a job, or they may be getting out of the workforce earlier altogether. It really speaks to the fact that women could be getting out of the leadership pipeline, and that could be one of the reasons we don’t have as many women in the C-suite.

For more information:

Stephanie Faubion, MD, MBA, can be reached at faubion.stephanie@mayo.edu.

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