There are powerful commercial incentives to “catastrophise” menopause in the minds of Australian women to drive them to purchase products to treat it, a major study into its symptoms has found.
Published on Thursday, the report draws on data from 3,570 women aged 18 and over who took part in the 2023 National Women’s Health Survey who said they had reached menopause.
Co-authored by the Australasian Menopause Society, the Women’s Health Research Program at Monash University and Jean Hailes for Women’s Health, it marks the first time a large, nationally representative survey of Australian women has been conducted to ask about menopause experiences.
The report found that while the severity of symptoms that women attribute to menopause are similar to those published in the medical literature, the proportion of Australian women missing days of work, or taking leave or an extended break from work, is lower than some estimates being used to model and address the impact.
The report noted that while “a substantial minority of women need therapeutic interventions to alleviate menopausal symptoms,” menopause coverage in the media and public discussion was often not based on strong evidence and overemphasised the severity and frequency of symptoms, and the impact.
One example cited by the report was widespread coverage of a study that found “nearly one million” women had quit their jobs in the UK due to lack of employer support for menopause symptoms.
However, the study was later found to be flawed, the report said, based on data from a non-representative sample of women that was then extrapolated and applied to the whole UK population. The study also combined other reasons for leaving the workforce, such as pregnancy and fertility issues, with menopause symptoms.
The Jean Hailes report said: “We caution all parties to avoid ‘catastrophising’ menopause in the framing of public discussions, and particularly in the advertising of goods and services, as it could have the unintended consequences of eroding women’s resilience and stigmatising women as they approach midlife.”
The CEO of Jean Hailes, Dr Sarah White said: “What’s been really increasing is discussion about women affected by menopause symptoms that makes them leave or lose their jobs, or which cause great problems with their relationships or their mental and emotional wellbeing.”
“But the problem is that a lot of the studies of menopause have been conducted through convenience sampling, so they ask women who have already self-identified as having an issue with menopause and then ask those women about their experiences.”
White said while these lived experiences are valuable and should be taken seriously, “there has not been a single survey until this one that takes a random sample of women from across Australia and asks – ‘What’s your experience?’ – to get a nationally representative sample.
“And when you do that, what you find is that actually it’s a small but significant proportion of women who have trouble with menopause and in fact, the majority of women have minor or manageable symptoms. And a small minority have no symptoms at all.”
The report found that 8.7% of Australian women have reached menopause due to surgery or treatment, while 34% have reached menopause naturally.
Of women of reproductive age (18-44) experiencing menopause, 5% of those experiencing bothersome symptoms (including hot flushes, difficulty concentrating and night sweats) in the past five years attributed to menopause found it hard to do daily activities, while 3% missed days of work or study.
A higher proportion of midlife women (age 45 to 64) were affected in the last five years by bothersome symptoms – 26% of this group found it hard to do daily activities, 21% found it hard to work or study, and 15% missed exercise. Fewer than one in ten (7%) Australian midlife women missed days of work or study due to menopause. Meanwhile, 5% of women age over 65 found it hard to do daily activities because of symptoms attributed to menopause.
The report said that further well-conducted research and public reporting of data is critical, “… as an increasing number of commercial organisations and health advocates are moving into a global menopause market that, by some estimates, will be worth more than US$24.4bn by 2030”.
“Unfortunately, there are powerful commercial incentives to create a ‘menopause problem’ in the minds of Australian women and Australian employers that can be ‘fixed’ by the purchase of goods and services,” the report said.
Prof Susan Davis, who is the director of Monash University’s women’s health research program, said 70% of women don’t have severe symptoms of menopause.
“It’s a concern that there are influencers on social media and advertisers recommending a whole lot of stuff for menopause that isn’t necessarily effective or safe,” she said.
“Women are spending a lot of money on stuff that is not going to help them. The majority of over-the-counter, non-hormonal preparations have not been shown to be effective.
“Women need to be very cautious about information on TikTok and other social media. There are medical specialists earning a lot of money spruiking particular products.”
The report recommends women see their GP for evidence-based information, and Davis said women could also turn to the Australasian Menopause Society or Jean Hailes when seeking general information online.
The CEO of the Consumers Health Forum, Dr Elizabeth Deveny, said she is concerned about “an increasing number of commercial players stepping into the health space” and selling health products and services.
“When governments disinvest in health care and health literacy, corporate organisations invest in products and services and market them to you,” she said.
“And it means if people feel desperate for a solution, or they can’t afford to see a GP, but a product slides into their news feed, or into their vision at the supermarket that is easy to access, then people will try it.”
