At the tail end of 2023, Doctor Linda Dear, a specialist GP and a certified menopause practitioner with the North American Menopause Society, conducted a survey of Australian women.
With over 5,000 participants, the survey was aimed at documenting and revealing menopausal symptoms, and how they impact women’s healthcare, women in the workplace, and women at home. Dr Dear conducted the same survey on New Zealand women earlier in 2023.
Both datasets were collected in hopes to enhance awareness of menopause and perimenopause, and to have women prepared for this life-altering stage.
Most Australian and New Zealand women who participated in the survey revealed that they did not recognise their symptoms as menopause or perimenopause while experiencing them – 73% from the AU study, and 64% from the NZ study.
Both surveys found that the top physical menopausal symptom for women was sleep problems (81% for AU and 80% for NZ), while the top psychological symptom was fatigue (77% from the AU, 79% from the NZ).
Most of the other top reported symptoms, including body pains, weight gain, night sweats, were all between 70 to 75% in both surveys for Australian and New Zealand women.
Results were fairly similar between the two nationalities, with 82% (AU) and 84% (NZ) reporting that menopausal symptoms impacted their work; 88% revealed menopause has negatively impacted their relationship with their partner; and 87% (AU) and 85% (NZ) said menopause has negatively impacted their sex life.
The largest point of difference in the results was in relation to induced menopause, which is where menopause is caused by treatments that damage women’s ovaries. After undergoing induced menopause, 39% of Australian women expressed they felt unprepared, while 66% of New Zealander women felt unprepared.
Menopause is a reality to be faced by almost all women, globally. According to Dr Linda Dear’s research, although symptoms and situations vary, most women have more in common reporting the effects of menopause.
Dr Dear believes raising awareness is key to limiting these effects.
In November of 2023, the Australian Senate called for an inquiry into menopause and perimenopause, looking at the mental, physical and economic impacts. Dr Linda Dear, and her organisation “Menodoctor” submitted the survey to the Senate’s inquiry.
To view the survey results, visit www.menodoctor.com/australiasurvey
