Navigating Menopause: A Comparative Study of Women's Clinical Experiences in the United Kingdom and United States

• In Event: 20820 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 21. Patient Experiences and Diagnostic Processes II

Abstract

Menopause marks a transformation for women both hormonally and socially that can span decades. Many women experience symptoms like brain fogginess, anxiety, and/or insomnia without realizing that they are moving through menopause. Additionally, women often report lower levels of health-related quality of life and notable levels of work impairment (Whiteley et al. 2013). The focus of this study is to examine how women come to understand these diverse symptoms as “menopause” and how menopause might shape the use of healthcare. Existing research argues that these subjects will likely vary depending upon both individual characteristics and the cultural context (Merrill 2019; Dillaway 2020). A central feature of this research is a cross-national comparison of the UK and US, where I probe whether and how national contexts and healthcare systems influence and contour menopausal experiences. In-depth interviews completed via online platforms (i.e., Zoom) with 30 participants in the US and 30 participants in the UK provide the data analyzed for this study.
Keywords: Qualitative Research, Menopause, Medicalization, Medical Sociology

Author

• Keely Maelynn Fox, University of Georgia