Women younger than 40 years have limited menopause knowledge

Women younger than 40 years had limited knowledge of menopause, results from an online survey showed. The results also showed that women in different age groups had different approaches to learning about menopause.

“There is limited research conducted into younger women’s education and knowledge of the menopause,” Carly Munn, a student at University College London, and colleagues wrote. “One study conducted in Egypt with women of reproductive age showed that they had very limited knowledge of menopause and another, carried out in Jordan, found that although women had knowledge of the menopausal concept, there was little awareness of menopausal consequences.”

Defining the cohort

Munn and colleagues created a 35-question survey that included questions about:

• participants’ background, such as sexual orientation, contraceptive methods, age, country of residence, relationship status, number of children and well-being;
• participants’ experience and education on menopause; and
• sociodemographic information, such as education, profession, religion, ethnicity and disability status.

The survey was shared on multiple social media platforms from Feb. 8 to March 12, 2022, and was advertised on Twitter from March 2 to 5. The researchers divided participants into age groups for data analyses.

In total, 738 women younger than 40 years completed the survey. The largest proportions of participants were aged 21 to 30 years (n = 362; 49.1%), lived in the United Kingdom (n = 687; 93.1%), were heterosexual (n = 533; 72.2%), did not have children (n = 570; 77.2%), had an undergraduate (n = 286; 38.8%) or postgraduate (n = 266; 36%) degree and were white with an ethnic background of English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British (n = 592; 80.2%).

Experiences with, attitudes about menopause education

Across age groups, most women said they felt that they were not informed at all or had some knowledge of menopause, and most women reported not being taught about menopause in school at all. Women younger than 20 years most commonly reported having been taught basic information on menopause in school, with 26% of this age group reporting basic education in school. Differences between groups were not significant.

More than 50% of each age group reported not actively seeking information on menopause. Women aged 21 to 30 years most commonly reported seeking information on menopause (45%), followed by women older than 30 years (43.1%). Differences between groups were not significant.

Women younger than 20 years (97%) and women aged 21 to 30 years (73%) were significantly more likely to learn about menopause from a family member compared with women older than 30 years (47.9%; P = .002).

Women aged 21 years or older were more likely to source menopause information from official websites (P = .017), scientific literature (P = .047), podcasts (P = .008), documentaries (P = .005) and books (P = .032) compared with women aged 20 years or younger.

Of note, most women said they thought that school was the best place to teach about menopause, although women younger than 30 years were more likely to say apps are a viable option for menopause education.

“Beyond school, a multifaceted approach to menopause education is advised,” Munn and colleagues wrote. “It is recommended that menopause education is delivered in the workplace, via social media and through public health campaigns. It is only with a combination of these approaches that menopause education can be effectively delivered throughout the life course.”