Perimenopausal symptom burden: implications for health, work and earlier clinical management

OBJECTIVE: Perimenopausal women often experience symptoms impairing quality of life, yet they receive limited clinical attention. This study aimed to assess symptom burden, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and work-related outcomes across reproductive aging stages. METHOD: Secondary analysis included 1478 women aged 40-54 years from 12 Latin American countries, classified by age and menstrual status into four groups: age 40-44 years with regular cycles (reference), age 45-49 years with regular cycles, age 45-49 years with irregular cycles (perimenopause) and age 50-54 years with absent menses (early postmenopause). Symptoms, HRQoL, work-related outcomes and job satisfaction were assessed using validated instruments Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: < 0.001). Compared with the reference group, women with irregular cycles and those with absent menses had higher odds of severe symptoms (odds ratio [OR] 2.97 and 3.71), lower HRQoL (OR 1.62 and 1.97) and lower job satisfaction (OR 2.01 and 3.07), respectively. Menopausal stage was not independently associated with work-related quality of life. CONCLUSION: Symptom burden and its impact on health and job satisfaction emerge before menopause and may inform earlier, stage-specific clinical guidance.

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Publication Details

Journal
Climacteric
Published
2026-09-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2026.2715247
Primary Topic
Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Perimenopausal symptom burden: implications for health, work and earlier clinical management

Maribel Dextre, Eliana Ojeda, Marcela López, Lida Sosa et al.
Climacteric
Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
article

Perimenopausal symptom burden: implications for health, work and earlier clinical management

Maribel Dextre, Eliana Ojeda, Marcela López, Lida Sosa, Doris Rodríguez-Vidal, Sócrates Aedo, Ana Lúcia Ribeiro Valadares, Claudia Rey, Gustavo Gómez-Tabares, Mónica Ñañez, Andrés Calle, Carlos Escalante-Gómez, Marcio AH Rodrigues, Santiago Elizalde-Cremonte, Ircania García, Margot Acuña-San Martín, Paolo Meza, Carlos Salinas, Félix Ayala, Eugenio Arteaga, Marcela S. Aguirre, Javier Saavedra, Juan E Blümel, Álvaro Monterrosa-Castro, María S. Vallejo, Konstantinos Tserotas, María T. Espinoza, Alejandra Elizalde-Cremonte, Hugo Gutiérrez-Crespo, Peter Chedraui, Ascanio Bencosme, Lucia Costa-Paiva, Juan Matzumura-Kasano, Karen Díaz
article en

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Perimenopausal women often experience symptoms impairing quality of life, yet they receive limited clinical attention. This study aimed to assess symptom burden, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and work-related outcomes across reproductive aging stages. METHOD: Secondary analysis included 1478 women aged 40-54 years from 12 Latin American countries, classified by age and menstrual status into four groups: age 40-44 years with regular cycles (reference), age 45-49 years with regular cycles, age 45-49 years with irregular cycles (perimenopause) and age 50-54 years with absent menses (early postmenopause). Symptoms, HRQoL, work-related outcomes and job satisfaction were assessed using validated instruments Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: < 0.001). Compared with the reference group, women with irregular cycles and those with absent menses had higher odds of severe symptoms (odds ratio [OR] 2.97 and 3.71), lower HRQoL (OR 1.62 and 1.97) and lower job satisfaction (OR 2.01 and 3.07), respectively. Menopausal stage was not independently associated with work-related quality of life. CONCLUSION: Symptom burden and its impact on health and job satisfaction emerge before menopause and may inform earlier, stage-specific clinical guidance.

Climacteric
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR), Universidad Mayor (CL), Universidad de La Frontera (CL), Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (BO), University of Cartagena (CO), Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (DO), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (CL), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (AR), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR), National University of San Marcos (PE), Universidad de Buenos Aires (AR), Clínica Alemana (CL), National University of the Northeast (AR), Universidad Espíritu Santo (EC), Universidad Mayor de San Simón (BO), Universidad de Costa Rica (CR), Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia (PE), Universidad Internacional (MX), Finis Terrae University (CL), Hospital de Clínicas "José de San Martín" (AR), Universidad del Valle (CR), Clínica Santa María (CO), Ministerio de Salud (BO), Universidad del Valle (NI), Federación Colombiana de Obstetricia y Ginecología (CO), Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile (CL), Ministerio de Salud (NI), Centro Médico ABC (MX), Departamento de Salud (ES), Universidad Andina del Cusco (PE), Climate Foundation (US), IPS Central (PY), University of Chile (CL)
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
DOISourceOpenAlex
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