Perimenopausal symptoms in young women discussed by Jennifer Payne, MD

In a recent interview with Contemporary OB/GYN, Jennifer Lanier Payne, MD, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at UVA Health, discussed how women aged 30 to 35 years may be suffering in silence with perimenopausal symptoms.¹

In a survey conducted through Flo Health,² a high prevalence of perimenopausal symptoms was reported in this age group. Specifically, younger women presented with increased emotional symptoms vs older women with increased physical symptoms. This highlights how women may be aged younger than expected when first experiencing perimenopausal symptoms.

Contemporary OB/GYN:

Please provide a brief overview of your study about perimenopausal symptoms in women aged 30 to 35 years.

Jennifer Lanier Payne, MD:

Sure, so this was a study I did in conjunction with Flo Health. Flo Health is a telephone app that women use to track their periods. It can also help track ovulation and pregnancy, and Flo Health essentially developed a survey and asked women if they would be willing to fill out the survey, and the survey was focused on perimenopausal symptoms and included both mood and emotional symptoms as well as physical symptoms. Over 4000 women participated, and we really looked at the data, breaking it down by age group. And what we found was that perimenopausal symptoms were very common, including in women who were younger and not really considered yet to be in perimenopause, and that the symptom patterns changed over time. So, in younger women, women reported more emotional symptoms like depressive symptoms or irritability or anxious symptoms, and then older women had fewer reports of those types of symptoms and more reports of physical types of symptoms like vasomotor symptoms or vaginal dryness.

Contemporary OB/GYN:

What is the clinical significance of these findings?

Payne:

Well, I think in general, perimenopause has not been that well studied or described. I think our study adds by really looking at the reporting of symptoms over age groups, so we now know that emotional symptoms may be more common in younger people, and physical symptoms become more and more prevalent the older a woman becomes. Also, I think it's important in that it brings up the topic of perimenopausal symptoms and points out that younger women can start experiencing symptoms of perimenopause earlier than we expected.

This video is part 1 of a 2-part series. Check back Monday for part 2.

References

1. Young women suffering menopause symptoms in silence, study reveals. University of Virginia Health System. February 25, 2025. Accessed February 28, 2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1074704
2. Iovine A. Women's health app launches massive survey on female orgasms. Mashable. April 16, 2024. Accessed February 28, 2025. https://mashable.com/article/flo-health-app-launches-massive-global-survey-on-female-orgasms