Doris Rodríguez-Vidal, Juan E Blümel, Peter Chedraui, María S Vallejo, Lucia Costa-Paiva, Hugo Gutiérrez-Crespo, Maribel Dextre, Karen Díaz, Alejandra Elizalde-Cremonte, Santiago Elizalde-Cremonte, Carlos Escalante-Gómez, María T Espinoza, Ircania García, Gustavo Gómez-Tabares, Juan Matzumura-Kasano, Paolo Meza, Álvaro Monterrosa-Castro, Mónica Ñañez, Marcela López, Eliana Ojeda, Claudia Rey, Ana Lucia Ribeiro Valadares, Marcio A H Rodrigues, Javier Saavedra, Carlos Salinas, Lida Sosa, Konstantinos Tserotas, Margot Acuña-San Martín, Sócrates Aedo, Marcela S Aguirre, Eugenio Arteaga, Félix Ayala, Ascanio Bencosme, Andrés Calle
Symptom burden and its impact on health and job satisfaction emerge before menopause and may inform earlier, stage-specific clinical guidance.
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: Symptom severity increased progressively across stages, with severe symptoms rising from 18.3% (reference group) to 50.6% in postmenopausal women (p < 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.