OQ-10: Do menopause symptoms and treatment effects differ across ethnic groups and countries?
Status: open. Status as of . Version 1.0.
This page describes research, not your experience. Talk to your own doctor about your situation.
What we can say today
Symptoms do appear to differ between groups. In one large United States cohort, hot flushes and night sweats lasted longest among African American women. What drives these differences, and whether treatments work differently across groups, is not known. For many countries there is little or no data at all.
Why it matters
The scoping review below shows how thin the data are in low and middle income countries. If symptoms, their timing or their response to treatment differ, descriptions built on other groups may not match a reader's own experience.
For research, the question is hard to untangle. Ethnicity, income, education, access to care, diet, climate and how people talk about symptoms are all linked. A difference between groups can come from any of these, and studies rarely measure them all.
What is known
- A 2015 analysis from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found a median total duration of hot flushes and night sweats of 7.4 years. African American women had the longest total duration, with a median of 10.1 years. [1]
- A 2024 cross-sectional study in Menopause, based on an app survey of 68 864 women, found that race and ethnicity were associated with symptom severity independently of socioeconomic status. The survey included the severity of skin and hair changes. [2]
- A 2025 scoping review in Climacteric of menopause research in low and middle income countries found 252 studies from 41 countries. Only 4% were nationally representative, and none provided national data on age at menopause. [3]
Why it is still open
The strongest data on duration come from one country. Large surveys can show differences in reported severity, but people who use an app may not represent their wider community, and a survey cannot show why a difference exists. In low and middle income countries, few studies are designed to represent the whole population, so basic facts such as the typical age at menopause are missing at national level.
Treatment effects across groups are even less clear. None of the sources on this page compares how a treatment works across ethnic groups or countries.
What would answer it
Long term cohorts in several regions, using the same symptom measures, that record ethnicity alongside income, education and access to care, so their effects can be separated. Nationally representative surveys in low and middle income countries, at least for age at menopause and main symptoms. And treatment trials that plan in advance to report results by ethnic group and country, with enough participants in each to make the comparison meaningful.
Sources
1. Avis, et al. Duration of Menopausal Vasomotor Symptoms Over the Menopause Transition. JAMA Intern Med. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8063 PMID 25686030. Verified on 2026-10-12.
2. Kochersberger, et al. The association of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on the severity of menopause symptoms: a study of 68,864 women. Menopause. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000002349 PMID 38652870. Verified on 2026-10-12.
3. Islam, et al. Menopause in low and middle-income countries: a scoping review. Climacteric. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2025.2509254 PMID 40536363. Verified on 2026-10-12.
Related on MenoDerm
- /statistics
- /methodology#open-questions
- Open questions OQ-08 and OQ-09
Status history
| Date | From | To | Reason | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (none) | open | Page created, status set | (none) |
Cite this page
MenoDerm Open Question OQ-10, version 1.0, , /open-questions/do-menopause-symptoms-differ-across-groups.
MenoDerm explains research. It does not give medical advice and is not a clinic. Talk to your own doctor about your situation. The status describes the research, not your situation.