Objectives

Early menopause or premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), menopause occurring before age 45 and 40 years respectively, occur at the age when most women are establishing or consolidating their careers. Studies of older postmenopausal women indicate an adverse bidirectional relationship between menopause and work. However, data are lacking regarding the work experiences of women with early menopause or POI. We explored the experiences of women with early menopause or POI in relation to work.

Study design

Using maximum variation sampling, 30 women (median age 44 years and 38 years at menopause diagnosis) of diverse backgrounds and menopause causes (16/30 iatrogenic) participated in qualitative interviews to explore experiences of early menopause/POI in the context of their overall lives, work and career. Dual thematic (themes identified across interviews) and thematic narrative (themes identified within individual interviews) analysis was done using NVivo 12 software.

Main outcome measures

Themes related to work experiences and influencing factors.

Results

Two major themes were identified: ‘on-the-job’ experiences (work performance, bodily presentation and disclosure) and career trajectories (intact and altered). Factors impacting the interaction between work and early menopause/POI included: career (type of work, environment, working conditions), personal (age, socio-economic background, family arrangements, migration history) and menopause experience (spontaneous versus iatrogenic, treatment complexity).

Conclusions

Early menopause/POI has multiple impacts on women's work experiences and career trajectories. As with older postmenopausal women, career and personal factors influence younger women's work experience. However, this research highlights differences associated with menopause occurring at an earlier, often unexpected age compared with menopause at the usual age.

中文翻译：

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关于工作和早期更年期的定性研究：“在职”经历和职业轨迹

目标

提前绝经或卵巢早衰 (POI)，绝经分别发生在 45 岁和 40 岁之前，发生在大多数女性正在建立或巩固其职业生涯的年龄。对老年绝经后妇女的研究表明，绝经与工作之间存在不利的双向关系。然而，缺乏有关提前绝经或 POI 的女性工作经验的数据。我们探讨了提前绝经或 POI 的女性与工作相关的经历。

学习规划

使用最大变异抽样，30 名具有不同背景和绝经原因（16/30 医源性）的女性（绝经诊断时的中位年龄为 44 岁和 38 岁）参与了定性访谈，以探讨她们整体生活背景下的早期绝经/POI 经历、工作和事业。使用 NVivo 12 软件完成双主题（在访谈中确定的主题）和主题叙述（在个人访谈中确定的主题）分析。

主要观察指标

主题与工作经历和影响因素相关。

结果

确定了两个主要主题：“在职”体验（工作表现、身体表现和披露）和职业轨迹（完整和改变）。影响工作与早期更年期/POI之间相互作用的因素包括：职业（工作类型、环境、工作条件）、个人（年龄、社会经济背景、家庭安排、移民史）和更年期经历（自发性与医源性、治疗复杂性） ）。

结论

提前绝经/POI 对女性的工作经历和职业轨迹有多重影响。与老年绝经后女性一样，职业和个人因素也会影响年轻女性的工作经历。然而，这项研究强调了与正常年龄相比，更年期发生在更早、通常是意想不到的年龄之间的差异。