Self-help therapy tackles problematic menopause symptoms for working women

Researchers from King’s College London have, for the first time, shown that a brief self-help therapy for women to manage menopausal symptoms had a significant positive impact on their working lives. Despite over 3.5 million women in employment aged between 50 and 65 years in the United Kingdom, women’s experience of menopause at work is under-researched. 

In a randomised trial, sixty women were given a self-help cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) booklet to help manage hot flushes and night sweats, symptoms that can be difficult to manage in work contexts due to physical discomfort, social embarrassment, sleep disturbance and aspects of the work environment. At 6 and 20 weeks later the women rated their menopausal symptoms as significantly less problematic, reported improvements in sleep quality and viewed menopause as more controllable, compared to a control group of 64 women who did not receive the booklet.

Publication:

‘Self-help cognitive behavior therapy for working women with problematic hot flushes and night sweats (MENOS@Work): a multicenter randomized controlled trial’, Hardy et al, Menopause, 2017, DOI: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001048

Authors available for interview:

Professor Myra Hunter
Emeritus Professor of Clinical Health Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London

Dr Claire Hardy
Postdoctoral Research Worker, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London