A BJGP Open study protocol set out a new English primary care project to measure how much menopause contributes to musculoskeletal symptoms, consultations and treatment in women aged 35 to 60. The paper, Menopause and musculoskeletal health in English primary care: study protocol, was published online on July 7, 2026 by Payam Amini, Kayleigh J Mason, Samina Begum, Kimme Hyrich, Movin P Gamage, Teresa Shakespeare-Smith, Kay Stevenson, Vikram Talaulikar, Alexander Thompson, Eleanor Zargham, Charlotte Woolley, Danielle van der Windt and Claire Burton, on behalf of the Arthritis UK Research Consortium: Musculoskeletal Epidemiology.
The project will use Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum records from 2015 to 2024 to quantify the prevalence, incidence and healthcare burden of musculoskeletal symptoms and conditions during the menopause transition. Its outcomes are operational, not abstract: consultation frequency, investigations, analgesic prescribing, referrals and sickness certification. The analysis will also be stratified by ethnicity and socioeconomic status, making it capable of showing whether menopause-related pain follows different care pathways in more deprived communities or in specific ethnic groups.
That matters because menopause-related joint and muscle pain is often raised by patients but is difficult to measure cleanly in routine primary care data, where symptoms can be labelled as ageing, arthritis or something else entirely. CPRD’s approved study summary says the pain is common in women who are menopausal or post-menopause and is likely linked to falling oestrogen. The protocol said the results should help clinical recognition, management strategies and the evaluation of inequities in care.
The data source gives the study unusual reach. CPRD says Aurum draws from more than 2,000 primary care practices and includes 60 million patients, while the University of Oxford says the dataset is broadly representative of the UK population in age, sex and ethnicity. That should make the findings useful well beyond one clinic or region, especially for GPs trying to judge whether repeated pain consultations, analgesic prescribing or referral patterns are clustering around the menopause transition.
The study lands in a clinical context where menopause is already being discussed more openly in primary care. NHS patient information says menopause and perimenopause usually affect women between 45 and 55, though they can happen earlier, and that around 75% of women will get symptoms while about 25% will have severe symptoms. NICE’s menopause guideline NG23 was last reviewed on April 15, 2026, after an updated version published on November 7, 2024, and it already includes musculoskeletal symptoms such as joint and muscle pain among menopause-associated symptoms, alongside advice on bone health during menopause reviews.
For UK service planners, the real test is whether the new records study can turn a familiar complaint into a measurable burden in English primary care. If it does, repeated joint pain, muscle aches, referrals and sickness notes will be harder to treat as background noise and easier to recognise as part of menopause care.