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Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, and the risk rises during the menopause years. But an international study has revealed that only half of women know this. Many have never talked about their heart with a doctor or a nurse, and the majority are living with multiple symptoms.

This discovery, and many more, came from a survey of 7,470 women aged 40 to 60 in Ireland, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania and Colombia, whose responses were analyzed as part of the Horizon Europe project, CARAMEL (CArdiovascular Risk Assessment in MEnopausaL women).

Women and clinicians also took part in interviews and co-design workshops in all six countries, and the data were subsequently analyzed by researchers in Trinity's School of Nursing & Midwifery.

Dr. Sharon O'Donnell, associate professor in critical care nursing and CARAMEL lead at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, said, "Our research found major gaps in what women know about heart health and menopause. More than half of women who participated in the study were unaware of their risk of heart disease or that menopause can increase that risk. Most of these women were university-educated, so the knowledge gaps we identified are probably greater within the wider population. We are also very concerned by what we heard from women with intellectual disabilities, most of whom had received no information about menopause before it began.

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