Seren Alaeddinoglu, Aimee Spector
Cognitive symptoms are increasingly recognised as a common and distressing symptom of menopause transition. These difficulties, colloquially termed ‘brain fog’, can include problems with memory, concentration and executive functioning. Although these symptoms are widely reported in the UK, their prevalence may vary across different global regions, cultures, and ethnicities. Psychological, social, and cultural factors, such as differences in symptom perception and reporting, access to healthcare, and attitude towards menopause may contribute towards variation in symptom presentation. There is therefore likely to be heterogeneity in prevalence and presentation of menopause brain fog across different communities and contexts. While some studies have explored differences in cognitive symptoms of menopause transition between women of different ethnicities, to date there have been no published reviews which synthesize these findings and explore general trends across different ethnicities or global regions. The purpose of this systematic scoping review is to identify, categorize and synthesize existing research on the prevalence, severity, and presentation of menopause brain fog across diverse ethnic groups and geographical regions. The review will map how brain fog is experienced between women of different ethnic and geographic backgrounds and identify key demographic variables that may influence these variations. Major health databases will be searched for a broad range of studies. Eligible studies will include studies published in peer-reviewed journals on women aged 40 – 60 years experiencing cognitive symptoms, and will encompass a wide range of study designs, including cohort, longitudinal, and systematic reviews. The primary research questions which the review will address are: 1) What is the prevalence of cognitive symptoms during the menopause transition across different ethnicities and global regions; and 2) How do contextual factors, such as socioeconomic status, immigration status, and lifestyle variables, influence the presentation and prevalence of cognitive symptoms during menopause transition? The review aims to scope existing literature and narratively synthesise findings on symptom prevalence, severity and presentation. Particular attention will be paid to reported demographics of study participants, to include not only race, ethnicity and location, but other sociodemographic variables such as age and socioeconomic status. The expected outcomes of the review are to provide a comprehensive overview of the prevalence of menopause brain fog across different geographical locations and ethnicities, highlight gaps in the evidence base for specific, understudied regions and populations, contribute to a broader understanding of cognitive symptoms in menopause transition, and increase cultural competence amongst clinicians assessing and treating menopause brain fog. Results will be disseminated through inclusion within a doctoral thesis.