MENOPAUSE IN THE WORKPLACE: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AMONG FEMALE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN TÜRKİYE

Year 2025, Volume: 23 Issue: 2, 196 - 209, 07.07.2025

Serap Palaz , Onur Yavaş

https://doi.org/10.11611/yead.1683946

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of menopausal symptoms among healthcare professionals and to assess their impact on work performance and career decisions. This descriptive cross-sectional study targeted female healthcare professionals working in both the public and private sectors. Menopausal symptoms were assessed using the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL). Additionally, a participant information form was used to investigate symptom variation across demographic variables, and a workplace menopause questionnaire was used to assess the impact of these symptoms on work-related outcomes. In this sample of Turkish healthcare professionals, more than half of the participants reported experiencing severe menopausal symptoms. The most frequently reported symptoms were vasomotor in nature, including hot flushes, sweating, and night sweats, and were found to significantly impair job performance, increase sick leave, and affect career decisions. These findings highlight that menopause is a significant workplace issue in Türkiye and highlight the need for further research to better understand and address its impact on working women.

Keywords

Menopausal Symptoms , Healthcare Professionals , Women , Work , Employment.

MENOPAUSE IN THE WORKPLACE: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AMONG FEMALE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN TÜRKİYE

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of menopausal symptoms among healthcare professionals and to assess their impact on work performance and career decisions. This descriptive cross-sectional study targeted female healthcare professionals working in both the public and private sectors. Menopausal symptoms were assessed using the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL). Additionally, a participant information form was used to investigate symptom variation across demographic variables, and a workplace menopause questionnaire was used to assess the impact of these symptoms on work-related outcomes. In this sample of Turkish healthcare professionals, more than half of the participants
reported experiencing severe menopausal symptoms. The most frequently reported symptoms were vasomotor in nature, including hot flushes, sweating, and night sweats, and were found to significantly impair job performance, increase sick leave, and affect career decisions. These findings highlight that menopause is a significant workplace issue in Türkiye and highlight the need for further research to better understand and address its impact on working women.

Keywords

Menopausal Symptoms , Healthcare Professionals , Women , Work , Employment.

Ethical Statement

it is attached.

Supporting Institution

This research did not receive any grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Thanks

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Nurse Sevcan Tavukçuoğlu Yıldırım for her valuable contributions in delivering the surveys to the participants and in the data collection process in this study.

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