Climacteric symptoms among full-time working HRT never-users in different work environments: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

<h3>Background </h3><p>Climacteric symptoms affect a large and growing proportion of women worldwide. Furthermore, women are increasingly participating in the workforce. Many women do not use treatment for their symptoms; however, little is known about how untreated women experience climacteric symptoms. This study examined the occurrence and severity of climacteric symptoms among full-time working women before treatment and compared their experiences across two different work environments.</p><h3>Methods </h3><p>A cross-sectional study was conducted in a group of Finnish women aged 52–66 years who had never used any treatment for their climacteric symptoms and were employed full-time. The data were obtained from two population-based postal surveys. Statistical techniques were used to analyse the data.</p><h3>Results </h3><p>The most common symptoms among all participants (<em>n</em> = 338) were hot flushes (80%), sweats (72%), and sleeping problems (72%). The most severe symptoms were hot flushes, sweats, and loss of sexual desire; 12% of participants experienced each of these as severe. Regarding symptom categories, vasomotor symptoms and loss of sexual desire were the most common and the most severe. Participants in either low-strain or high-strain jobs (<em>n</em> = 164) most often experienced five (15%) or 10 (13%) different symptoms out of 12 presented in the study questionnaire. Participants in high-strain jobs (<em>n</em> = 79) experienced a higher number of symptoms (<em>p</em> = 0.019) and more often urinary incontinence (<em>p</em> = 0.008) and depressive symptoms (<em>p</em> = 0.043) than those in low-strain jobs (<em>n</em> = 85). Furthermore, they experienced more severe sweats (<em>p</em> = 0.038).</p><h3>Conclusions </h3><p>Hot flushes, sweats, sleeping problems, and loss of sexual desire were both common and severe among full-time working untreated women. In addition, symptoms were more troublesome among women in high-strain than low-strain jobs. Therefore, healthcare professionals should pay special attention to the above symptoms and to women in high-strain jobs.</p>