Rural women may experience greater menopause symptoms

Women living in rural areas may experience a greater burden of psychological and somatic menopause symptoms, according to a new study.

The study compared the experiences of menopause symptoms, resources and treatments in woman across rural, suburban and urban areas.

The findings show that women that live in rural areas going through late menopause had more prevalent symptoms, such as muscle aches and pains at 65 per cent compared to 40 per cent in urban and suburban areas, and panic attacks at 30 per cent compared to 18 per cent in urban areas and 24 per cent in suburban areas.

Post menopausal rural women were more likely to experience symptoms such as mood swings at 23 per cent compared to 14 per cent in suburban areas, urinary incontinence at 23 per cent compared to 14 per cent in suburban areas, and vaginal dryness at 37 per cent compared to 22 per cent in urban areas.

The findings also showed that current hormone therapy use for menopause is low and did not differ by residence, despite differences in menopausal resources used.

The researchers, from the University of Washington School of Medicine, conclude: “Rural women may experience greater burden of psychological and somatic menopause symptoms but not vasomotor symptoms.

“Overall low rates of menopause hormone therapy use suggest a need for education regarding hormone therapy, tailored to residential groups who rely on different resources on healthy ageing.”