Women's Midlife Health

Thematic series: Contraception in Midlife

Although fertility declines substantially by age 45, many women remain at risk of pregnancy into their fifties. Addressing the contraceptive needs, and in some cases infertility needs of women in the midlife is critical, given the health risks of unintended and desired late life pregnancies. As well, increases in chronic conditions may contraindicate some contraceptive choices. This ongoing thematic series highlights key questions facing women and clinicians regarding pregnancy and contraceptive choices, risks and benefits during the midlife and the menopausal transition while also outlining research needs given gaps in scientific knowledge.

Featured blog: Contraception for midlife women: Lack of information? Interest? Investment? Or all of the above?

In recognition of World Contraception Day Nancy Fugate Woods tells us about the latest research and information, published in the journal Women’s Midlife Health, on patterns of contraceptive use in midlife women.

Featured Article: "It is not just menopause: symptom clustering in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation"

Patterns of symptom clustering in midlife women may suggest common underlying mechanisms or may identify women at risk of adverse health outcomes or, conversely, likely to experience healthy aging. In this article, Siobán D. Harlow (University of Michigan) and co-authors assess symptom clustering longitudinally by stage of reproductive aging and estimate the probability of women experiencing specific symptom clusters. They also evaluate factors that influence the likelihood of specific symptom clusters and assess whether symptom clustering is associated with women’s self-reported health status.

Aims and scope

Women’s Midlife Health is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers original and review articles focused on the physical and mental health of women during midlife, including articles on aging, reproductive aging and their inter-relationship. The journal focuses on research that provides new insights into the health transitions that occur during midlife, welcoming research that examines the vulnerabilities and opportunities during this life stage and their consequences for healthy aging.

Women's Midlife Health aims to enhance understanding of the bi-directional relationships between changes in reproductive endocrinology and functioning, physical and mental health during midlife. It contributes to clinical and public health knowledge about common underling mechanisms of disease and functional decline and encourages submissions of translational research that may enhance opportunities for healthy aging.

The journal considers clinical and population-based research on health in the mid-life and its determinants and welcomes papers that provide international perspectives or data on the health of midlife women in low and middle income countries. Papers that consider the impact of the environment, occupation, and behavioural or social factors on health and disease processes during this lifestage are encouraged.

Topic areas include but are not restricted to

Aging
Arthritis and Bone Health
Cancer
Cardiovascular Health
Cognitive and Physical Functioning
Gynecology/ Reproductive Endocrinology
Nutrition/ Obesity Diabetes/ Metabolic Syndrome
Menopause, Ovarian Aging
Mental Health
Sexuality
Sleep
Quality of Life

About the Editor

Dr. Siobán D. Harlow, Editor-in-Chief

Siobán D. Harlow, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Integrated Approaches to Complex Diseases at the University of Michigan and adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at Michigan State University. She is Principal Investigator of the Michigan site of the 20–year multi-ethnic cohort Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) and for the SWAN Repository and chaired the 2011 consensus conference: “STRAW+10: Addressing the Unfinished Agenda of Staging Reproductive Aging”. From 2003–2009, she served on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group, Division of Reproductive Health Research, World Health Organization.