Climacteric symptoms affect a large and growing proportion of women worldwide. Furthermore, women are increasingly participating in the workforce. Many women do not use treatment for their symptoms; however, little is known about how untreated women experience climacteric symptoms. This study examined the occurrence and severity of climacteric symptoms among full-time working women before treatment and compared their experiences across two different work environments.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a group of Finnish women aged 52–66 years who had never used any treatment for their climacteric symptoms and were employed full-time. The data were obtained from two population-based postal surveys. Statistical techniques were used to analyse the data.

The most common symptoms among all participants (n = 338) were hot flushes (80%), sweats (72%), and sleeping problems (72%). The most severe symptoms were hot flushes, sweats, and loss of sexual desire; 12% of participants experienced each of these as severe. Regarding symptom categories, vasomotor symptoms and loss of sexual desire were the most common and the most severe. Participants in either low-strain or high-strain jobs (n = 164) most often experienced five (15%) or 10 (13%) different symptoms out of 12 presented in the study questionnaire. Participants in high-strain jobs (n = 79) experienced a higher number of symptoms (p = 0.019) and more often urinary incontinence (p = 0.008) and depressive symptoms (p = 0.043) than those in low-strain jobs (n = 85). Furthermore, they experienced more severe sweats (p = 0.038).

Hot flushes, sweats, sleeping problems, and loss of sexual desire were both common and severe among full-time working untreated women. In addition, symptoms were more troublesome among women in high-strain than low-strain jobs. Therefore, healthcare professionals should pay special attention to the above symptoms and to women in high-strain jobs.