Self-reported psychological, somatic and vasomotor symptoms at different stages of the menopause for autistic and non-autistic people

There is growing awareness of the need to understand the experiences of autistic adults and people assigned female sex at birth. To date, studies of menstruation and menopause are limited. The few (mostly qualitative) studies to explore menopause suggest that this is a challenging time for autistic people. In an online survey, we examined self-reported menopause symptoms of autistic (n=242) and non-autistic (n=100) people at different stages of their reproductive life (pre-menopausal, menopausal, post-menopausal). Autistic people reported significantly higher rates of psychological and somatic menopause symptoms than non-autistic people, but no differences were observed for vasomotor symptoms. Results indicated different patterns of psychological, somatic and vasomotor symptoms between the autistic and non-autistic groups. People in the menopause and post-menopause groups reported negative changes in symptoms, but non-autistic women report these as more negative than autistic women. Whether this finding is related to the observation that autistic people report higher rates of psychological and somatic symptoms before the menopause, requires further investigation. This cross-sectional analysis suggests that autistic people may experience more symptoms during the menopause compared to non-autistic people. Longitudinal studies examining change are required to fully understand the variables that impact individual experiences for autistic people.