Menopause is a significant transition in a person’s life. Defined as the period of time after a person has stopped menstruating,menopauseusually occurs between the ages of 40 to 58 years old.Menopause-related symptoms includevasomotor symptoms(hot flashes and night sweats), sleep disturbances, mood changes,genitourinary syndrome, cardiovascular and metabolic changes, and the loss of bone mineral density.
While everyone experiences menopause differently, for Black women, the change can start sooner, be more physically and emotionally challenging, and cause more severe symptoms compared to White women.
Throughout menopause, Black women are reported to experience higher levels of vasomotor symptoms (such as hot flashes and night sweats), poorer sleep quality and shorter sleep duration, and an increased risk of depression.Black women in pre-menopause or earlyperimenopauseexperience vasomotor symptoms at a higher rate than White women and experience them for a longer period of time.Black women also have higher rates of depressive symptoms during menopause, which are due in part to socioeconomic factors like increased stress and less social support than their White counterparts.In combination, these factors can also negatively impact sleep quality.
This disparity is due to a combination of environmental and socioeconomic factors. The increased stress and trauma Black people face as a result of ongoing discrimination, reduced access to health care, and varying degrees of economic advantage play a large role in the disparity of experiences. Black people are met with discouraging barriers to care due to structural racism in the medical community, which influences risk factors and lifestyle factors that impact menopause. All of this leads to a harder time getting symptom relief.
For Black women, menopause can start sooner, be more physically and emotionally challenging, and cause more severe symptoms compared to White women.—DR. JESSICA SHEPHERD
For Black women, menopause can start sooner, be more physically and emotionally challenging, and cause more severe symptoms compared to White women.
—DR. JESSICA SHEPHERD
To help understand these inequities, our Health Divide on menopause and Black women provides:
Read on to learn more about the challenges impacting Black women in menopause.
–Dr. Jessica Shepherd, OB-GYN and former Chief Medical Officer for Verywell Health
Menopause Symptoms
What Are Vasomotor Symptoms During Menopause?Everything You Need to Know About Menopause and SleepCan Menopause Cause Depression?Vaginal Dryness and Menopause: What You Need to Know
What Are Vasomotor Symptoms During Menopause?
Everything You Need to Know About Menopause and Sleep
Can Menopause Cause Depression?
Vaginal Dryness and Menopause: What You Need to Know
Symptom Management Options
15 Supplements for Menopause SymptomsProgesterone Cream Benefits, Risks, and AlternativesEvening Primrose Oil and MenopauseWhat Is Estroven?
15 Supplements for Menopause Symptoms
Progesterone Cream Benefits, Risks, and Alternatives
Evening Primrose Oil and Menopause
What Is Estroven?
Ask the Expert
Monique Rainford, MDObstetrician-Gynecologist, Assistant Clinical ProfessorMonique Rainford, MD, is board-certified in obstetrics-gynecology, and currently serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Medicine. She is the former chief of obstetrics-gynecology at Yale Health.Read more
Monique Rainford, MDObstetrician-Gynecologist, Assistant Clinical Professor
Monique Rainford, MD
Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Assistant Clinical Professor
Monique Rainford, MD, is board-certified in obstetrics-gynecology, and currently serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Medicine. She is the former chief of obstetrics-gynecology at Yale Health.Read more
Monique Rainford, MD, is board-certified in obstetrics-gynecology, and currently serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Medicine. She is the former chief of obstetrics-gynecology at Yale Health.
How is the experience of menopause different for Black women?
Dr. Rainford: Black women are 50% more likely to have vasomotor symptoms such as night sweats and hot flashes, experience symptoms for on average 3.5 more years than White women, and are less likely to get hormone therapy.However, despite having more symptoms and a longer duration of symptoms, they are less likely to receive treatment. That implies they bear a higher burden of suffering from these symptoms during those years.
How do access to care issues impact Black women going through menopause?
Dr. Rainford: Black people are one and a half times more likely to be uninsured compared to White people and more likely to have Medicaid or public insurance compared to White people (38% to 20% in 2021).Research has shown that with Medicaid insurance, individuals are 1.6 times less likely to successfully schedule a primary care appointment and 3.3 times less likely to schedule a specialty appointment.Therefore, both the overall lower insurance rates and lower rates of private insurance translate into less access to primary care to address issues like menopause. And since Medicaid is less widely accepted than private insurance, it not only means less access to choices of primary care providers but likely less access to providers who specialize in menopause treatment. Additionally, both implicit and explicit biases can affect how seriously their concerns about their menopause symptoms are taken and how effectively they are addressed.
How Racism Affects the Black Health Experience
What treatment options are available to help manage menopause symptoms?
Dr. Rainford: Treatment options for menopause include hormone therapy usually in the form of estrogen and if a woman still has a uterus, progestin is often added to protect the lining of the uterus from developing abnormal changes. The treatment can be oral or topical medications such as patches, gels, or sprays. Other options include certain medications that are usually used to treat depression. These antidepressants can improve menopause symptoms for women who do not suffer from depression. Also, since alcohol and caffeine can make symptoms worse, women with symptoms can try to cut these down to try to improve how they feel.
What’s the Best Way to Treat Menopause?
How would you recommend women discuss menopause with their healthcare providers?
Dr. Rainford: Women should bring up their concerns if their menopause symptoms are bothersome. If they find that their symptoms are not adequately addressed in a particular visit, they should schedule a follow-up. Similarly, if they are not comfortable with their providers or do not think their provider is addressing their needs, they should seek another provider. Women should not give up on getting their symptoms addressed. Sometimes it requires persistence and multiple visits or getting a second opinion from another provider.
Signs That Your Body Is Entering Menopause
Key Terms
MenopausePerimenopauseHormone TherapyHot FlashesNight Sweats
Menopause
What Is Menopause?
Perimenopause
What Is Perimenopause?
Hormone TherapyHormone therapy is a medical treatment used to increase or decrease hormone levels. In menopause, hormone therapy can replace declining estrogen and progesterone to help improve symptoms.Hormone Therapy for Menopause Symptoms
Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy is a medical treatment used to increase or decrease hormone levels. In menopause, hormone therapy can replace declining estrogen and progesterone to help improve symptoms.
Hormone Therapy for Menopause Symptoms
Hot FlashesHot flashes are brief periods when a person suddenly feels warm and develops sweating and flushing, usually on the face, neck, and chest. They are most common during menopause.What Are Hot Flashes?
Hot Flashes
Hot flashes are brief periods when a person suddenly feels warm and develops sweating and flushing, usually on the face, neck, and chest. They are most common during menopause.
What Are Hot Flashes?
Night SweatsNight sweats are experiences of sweating at night while sleeping. They are a common symptom of menopause.What to Know About Night Sweats
Night Sweats
Night sweats are experiences of sweating at night while sleeping. They are a common symptom of menopause.
What to Know About Night Sweats
Personal Stories
How I’m Helping Women Feel Empowered During Menopause and BeyondThe symptoms of menopause can be as diverse as the women experiencing them.—LORRIE KING
How I’m Helping Women Feel Empowered During Menopause and Beyond
The symptoms of menopause can be as diverse as the women experiencing them.
—LORRIE KING
How I Overcame a Lack of Resources for Black Women in MenopauseMy goal is to empower women to take control of their own health and well-being during menopause, regardless of their race, age, or background.—KAMILI WILSON
How I Overcame a Lack of Resources for Black Women in Menopause
My goal is to empower women to take control of their own health and well-being during menopause, regardless of their race, age, or background.
—KAMILI WILSON
How Self-Advocacy Transformed My Experience With MenopauseIt took a lot of self-advocacy to get to this point in my menopausal journey, but it has been worth it.—DR. STACIA ALEXANDER
How Self-Advocacy Transformed My Experience With Menopause
It took a lot of self-advocacy to get to this point in my menopausal journey, but it has been worth it.
—DR. STACIA ALEXANDER
How My Menopause Experience Inspired Me to Start My Own CompanyWomen don’t want to just listen to a conversation around menopause; they want to be a part of it.—JULIE GORDON WHITE
How My Menopause Experience Inspired Me to Start My Own Company
Women don’t want to just listen to a conversation around menopause; they want to be a part of it.
—JULIE GORDON WHITE
Frequently Asked Questions
Menopause naturally happens for many people when they are between the ages of 40 and 58. In the United States, the average age for menopause to start is 52 years.Learn MoreWhat Is the Average Age for Menopause to Start?
Menopause naturally happens for many people when they are between the ages of 40 and 58. In the United States, the average age for menopause to start is 52 years.
Learn MoreWhat Is the Average Age for Menopause to Start?
Menopause marks the end of menstruation. After this occurs, the most common symptoms during postmenopause are hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and vaginal dryness.Learn MoreSymptoms of Postmenopause
Menopause marks the end of menstruation. After this occurs, the most common symptoms during postmenopause are hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and vaginal dryness.
Learn MoreSymptoms of Postmenopause
Postmenopausal bleeding is not your period returning. While postmenopausal bleeding often stems from benign (noncancerous) conditions, it can be the first sign of endometrial (uterine) cancer. As such, vaginal bleeding after menopause requires prompt medical attention from a healthcare provider.Learn MorePostmenopausal Bleeding: When Are Symptoms Concerning?
Postmenopausal bleeding is not your period returning. While postmenopausal bleeding often stems from benign (noncancerous) conditions, it can be the first sign of endometrial (uterine) cancer. As such, vaginal bleeding after menopause requires prompt medical attention from a healthcare provider.
Learn MorePostmenopausal Bleeding: When Are Symptoms Concerning?
Learn MoreHot Flash Symptoms
Learn More About Menopause
Menopause Supplements for Managing SymptomsMenopause Brain Fog: Is It Real?Mood Swings During Menopause? You’re Not AloneWhy Does Menopause Cause Nausea?Sedentary Lifestyle Linked to Nighttime Menopause Hot FlashesIs Menopause on the Horizon?What Are the Symptoms of Menopause?Hot Flashes: Symptoms, Causes, and TreatmentHow Much Do You Really Know About Menopause Symptoms?5 Signs That Signal Your Body Is Entering the Menopause TransitionPremenopause: Signs, Symptoms, and ComplicationsHow Long Will Menopause Last for You?Hot Flashes After MenopauseWhat’s the Best Way to Treat Menopause?
Menopause Supplements for Managing Symptoms
Menopause Brain Fog: Is It Real?
Mood Swings During Menopause? You’re Not Alone
Why Does Menopause Cause Nausea?
Sedentary Lifestyle Linked to Nighttime Menopause Hot Flashes
Is Menopause on the Horizon?
What Are the Symptoms of Menopause?
Hot Flashes: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment
How Much Do You Really Know About Menopause Symptoms?
5 Signs That Signal Your Body Is Entering the Menopause Transition
Premenopause: Signs, Symptoms, and Complications
How Long Will Menopause Last for You?
Hot Flashes After Menopause
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More Resources
8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
North American Menopause Society.Menopause 101: a primer for the perimenopausal.
National Institute on Aging.What is menopause?
Harlow SD, Burnett-Bowie SAM, Greendale GA, et al.Disparities in reproductive aging and midlife health between black and white women: the study of women’s health across the nation (SWAN).Women’s Midlife Health. 2022;8(1):3. doi:10.1186/s40695-022-00073-y
Avis NE, Crawford SL, Greendale G, et al.Duration of menopausal vasomotor symptoms over the menopause transition.JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175(4):531. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8063
Cortés YI, Marginean V.Key factors in menopause health disparities and inequities: Beyond race and ethnicity.Current Opinion in Endocrine and Metabolic Research. 2022;26:100389. doi:10.1016/j.coemr.2022.100389
Hsiang WR, Lukasiewicz A, Gentry M, et al.Medicaid patients have greater difficulty scheduling health care appointments compared with private insurance patients: a meta-analysis.Inquiry. 2019;56:46958019838118. doi:10.1177/0046958019838118
Shifren J, Gass M.The North American Menopause Society recommendations for clinical care of midlife women.Menopause. 2014;21(10):1038-1062. doi:10.1097/gme.0000000000000319
