Menopause and workplace support among employees at a German hospital: A cross-sectional study

Background

Menopause symptoms affect around two thirds of women to some degree in the transition. Healthcare employees are predominantly female and many experience menopause during their careers. Challenges associated with menopause and perceived workplace support are rarely understood. The aim of this study is to examine menopausal symptoms in healthcare workers, and to identify factors associated with perceived support, to derive practical implications for workplace health promotion.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among women at the University Medical Centre Mainz in winter 2024. The survey included over 200 items on sociodemographics, menopause knowledge and symptoms, and workplace context. After data cleaning, 364 participants were included in the analyses. In addition to descriptive and bivariate analyses, a logistic regression with a priori tests for statistical assumptions was conducted. Perceived support was the dependent variable, with sociodemographic, work-related, and menopause-related factors as independent variables.

Results

Respondents most frequently reported symptoms such as hot flushes (57.1%), fatigue (51.9%) and physical exhaustion (46.0%). A chi-square test showed a significant association between perceived support and perception of menopause as a taboo in the workplace (χ²(2)=15.9, p < 0.001). The logistic regression indicated that communication of menopausal symptoms significantly predicts perceived support and was the strongest predictor in the model (OR = 7.1, p < 0.001, 95% CI: 3.4–14.9).

Discussion

Menopausal symptoms reported in the study are in line with previous findings. Additionally, the findings of this study demonstrate an association between perceiving menopause as a workplace taboo and lower perceived support. Communication of menopausal symptoms is associated with higher perceived support at the workplace. These findings highlight the importance of organisational awareness and targeted menopause-sensitive interventions.

Key messages

• Menopause symptoms are common among healthcare workers and represent an important occupational health issue that should be systematically addressed in health promotion strategies.

• Communication about menopause is significantly associated with perceived support, highlighting a modifiable organisational target for intervention, while causality cannot be inferred.