Menopausal status, age and management among women living with HIV in the UK.
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Authors
Tariq, Anjum
Issue Date
2021-10-01
Journal
Type
Article
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Keywords
Ageing
Cross-sectional study
Women
HIV infections
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
Lifestyle
Menopause
Middle aged
Symptoms
United Kingdom
Cross-sectional study
Women
HIV infections
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
Lifestyle
Menopause
Middle aged
Symptoms
United Kingdom
Journal Title
HIV Medicine
Volume
22
Issue
9
Begin page
834
End page
842
Abstract
Background
There is currently little evidence exploring menopausal status, age at last menstrual period (LMP) and management of menopause among women living with HIV aged 45–60 years in England.
Methods
Socio-demographic, lifestyle and clinical data were collected through a self-completed cross-sectional survey. Longitudinal CD4 count and viral load data were available from linkage to clinical records, if consent was provided. Women were categorised as pre-, peri- or post-menopausal. Factors associated with menopausal stage were examined using ordinal logistic regression adjusting for age. Age at LMP was estimated using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis.
Results
The 847 women had a median age of 49 [interquartile range (IQR): 47–52] years. Most were of black ethnicity (81.3%), were born outside the UK (85.0%) and had completed secondary education (88.7%); 177 (20.4%), 373 (43.0%) and 297 (34.2%) were pre-, peri- or post-menopausal, respectively. After adjusting for age, associations of menopausal status with non-cohabiting relationship [adjusted odds ratio = 0.63 (95% confidence interval: 0.43–0.91)], baseline viral load ≥ 100 000 copies/mL [2.67 (1.20–5.94)] and unemployment [1.34 (0.97–1.84)] remained significant. Median (IQR) age at LMP was 54 (51–55) years in the group. In total, 27.9% (233/836) of women reported severe menopausal symptoms; 45.6% of those with somatic symptoms had heard of hormone replacement therapy and 8.7% had used it. Only 5.6% of women with urogenital symptoms had used topical oestrogen.
Conclusions
Our findings highlight the importance of educating both women and their healthcare providers about menopausal symptoms and management options.
Citation
Okhai H, Sabin CA, Haag K, Sherr L, Dhairyawan R, Burns F, Gilson R, Post F, Ross J, Mackie N, Sullivan A, Shepherd J, Tariq A, Jones R, Fox J, Rosenvinge M, Tariq S. Menopausal status, age and management among women living with HIV in the UK. HIV Med. 2021 Oct;22(9):834-842. doi: 10.1111/hiv.13138. Epub 2021 Jul 26. PMID: 34309177.