47% of UK women don't feel prepared for the menopause
More needs to be done to prepare and inform UK women when it comes to menopause, with around half (51%) saying they were unaware of the perimenopause until they started to have symptoms, found new research by cosmetics company Avon.
A staggering 47% of UK women did not feel prepared for either perimenopause or the menopause when it started, and more than two fifths (42%) did not expect perimenopause when it began to occur, which explains why 30% felt anxious during it, the report found.
More than a third (41%) of women say they rely on online resources to learn about the change above turning to their GP (16%), gynaecologist and/or friends for advice. Yet, despite the information being available, 32% stated that they still don’t understand the two phases (perimenopause and menopause) and their differences.
Despite perimenopause and menopause often following maternal patterns, only 15% would discuss the matter with their mother, and only 12% feel comfortable discussing it with their partner, the report found.
“Much more needs to be done to explain the stages of menopause and eliminate that element of shock,” commented UK GP Dr Sarah Jarvis, who supports the report.
“I see it all the time in my surgery – women think menopause is something that happens in their 50s, whereas most often they start to experience symptoms far earlier with the little-communicated phase, perimenopause.”
Avon conducted its research with more than 1,000 UK women aged 45–65 who were either experiencing or had experienced menopause. “We undertook this global menopause study to better understand women’s experiences at this time in their lives,” said Gina Ghura, head of future innovation at Avon.
Read the full report “Menopause TLI. Too Little Information… The Global Conversation Deficit.”