Table 2. Characteristics of studies.

First Author and year published	Setting					Study details							Study quality
	Year of data collection	Funder	Country	Identity first/person first language	Any other factors which may affect results	Aim	Recruitment	Participants	Research design (JBI)	Data Collection	Data Analysis	Words included	JBI score
Brady et al. (2024)	Not stated, but ethical approval in 2022	Not stated	Canada (n=13) & UK (n=11)	Identity first	Incentives provided. Questions provided in advance. Autistic team member present during data collection. Included self-identifying as Autistic Majority of participant: white and female.	Explore how Autistic people in the UK and Canada experience menopause, access service, support and information.	Social media via community research associates	24 Autistic people (self ID or diagnosed) who were navigating menopause or postmenopausal. Aged 40-71	Qualitative	Demographic and Autistic menopause questionnaire (n=23) Semi-structured online focus groups (n=16 participants) and online interviews (n=8)	Qualitative Reflexive thematic analysis.	2,780	Yes: 9 Unclear: 1
Charlton et al. (2024)	2023	Unfunded	Not stated	Identity first	Included self-identified Autistic people in the Autistic group; validated using RADDS 14. Study not specifically about menopause, so may have attracted a wide group of participants. Sample size was relatively large. Online survey may be inaccessible to some potential participants.	Examine rates of menopause symptoms in Autistic and non-Autistic people at different stages of menopause.	Autistica’s research network, Cambridge Autism Research Database, author’s contacts.	242 Autistic & 100 non- Autistic aged 40+ years at different stages of reproductive life (premenopausal - postmenopausal)	Cross sectional	Online survey	ANOVA, chi-square &ANCOVA	1,074	Yes: 7 Unclear: 1
de Visser et al. (2024)	Not stated	Unfunded	United Kingdom	Identity first	Very broad range of ages; not all participants were menopausal. Sample was highly educated and white people were overrepresented. Many participants had other neuro- developmental disabilities	Explore Autistic people’s experiences of reproductive and sexual health in the context of primary healthcare.	Autistica’s email list (n=13,000), social media	136 Autistic adults aged 1871 years	Cross sectional	Online survey, using open and closed questions	Descriptive statistics, MANOVA and thematic analysis	1,889	Yes: 8
Groenman et al. (2022)	Not stated	Innovational Research Incentives Schemed VICI (NWO)	Netherlands	Mixture	Did not ask if HRT was used.	Explore: prevalence of PMDD; Autistic menopause symptoms during menopause transitions; relationship between menopause symptoms and Autism, anxiety, depression and ADHD	Mental health institutions; social media; Autism networks; researchers’ social networks.	Autistic people aged over 40; self-reported irregular or absent menstruation.   Autistic (n=30): Diagnosed as Autistic; Excluded: intellectual disability, neurological disorders, alcohol or drug dependency. Control (n=35): Excluded: psychotic episodes, likely Autistic or ADHD	Cross sectional	Dutch version of the Menopause Rating Scale; Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) subscales used for depression and anxiety proxy measure; ADHD self report (ASHD- SR); Autism Quotient (AQ)	f-test with group as independent variable and MRS score as the outcome. Bayseian analysis to assess group effects. Regression analysis to assess if MRS scores were associated with psychological symptoms.	318	Yes: 6 Unclear: 2
Jenkins et al. (2024)	2023	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada	International, including: United Kingdom (n=211); United States (n=123); Canada (n=85); Europe (n=60)	Identity first	Few participants from the Global South; majority of participants were white; lack of accessibility to potential participants with learning disabilities; recall bias in some participants. Included those self-identifying. Autistic people involved in developing and undertaking the research.	To explore the support needs of Autistic people during menopause	Social media, researchers’ networks and support groups.	508 Autistic people with lived experience of menopause transition.	Cross Sectional	Online survey	Descriptive statistics, ANOVA. Reflexive Thematic Analysis	3,624	Yes: 8
Karavidas and de Visser (2021)	Not stated	Not stated	UK	Identity first	Offered in person or Skype interview mode. Included self-identifying as Autistic. Did not collect ethnicity or HRT use. Participants were “expert” in Autism; may be unrepresentative. One participant was 16 years post menopause ‘change’.	To understand Autistic people’s understandings of the menopause change.	Social media advertisement.	7 peri- (n=3) or post (n=4)- menopausal Autistic AFAB people who did not have intellectual disabilities. Aged 39-63. 6 participants = formal Autism diagnosis.	Qualitative	Semi-structured interviews via Skype. Participants were able to review and amend their transcript.	Material-discursive- intrapsychic approach within a critical realist epistemology, informed by thematic decomposition	3,858	Yes: 10
Moseley et al. (2020)	Not stated, but appears to be 2019 (Moseley et al., 2021)	Bournemouth University	International: British (n=4), South African (n=1) Australian (n=1) Unknown (n=1)	Identity first	Questions provided in advance. Small sample; did not ask if HRT was used; may be unrepresentative of Autistic community.	Explore: knowledge, difficulties and support needs relating to menopause.	Two Autistic- run Facebook groups for Autistic adults	7 Autistic (including self identifying) AFAB people going through the menopause aged 49-63 years.	Qualitative	Online focus group. AQ and RAADS- 14 used to assess Autism status.	Thematic analysis	1926	Yes: 6 Unclear: 3 No: 1
Moseley et al. (2021)	2019	Bournemouth University	International: British (n=13) Canadian (n=2) South African (n=1) Australian (n=1)	Identity first	Questions provided in advance; range of interview modes provided to increase comfort. Did not ask about mental health diagnoses; may be unrepresentative of Autistic community; recall bias (1 participant 21 years since last period). Includes six participants from Moseley et al. (2021).	Explore: menopause awareness, experiences and impacts, support needs.	Two Autistic- run Facebook groups for Autistic adults	17 Autistic (including selfidentifying) participants who believed they were going through the menopause (n=6) or had gone through it (n=11). 16 were cis women, aged 41-66 years.	Qualitative	Qualitative interviews, meeting participants access needs, including a/synchronicity AQ and RAADS- 14 used to assess Autism status.	Inductive thematic analysis guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis principles.	2184	Yes: 7 Unclear: 2 No: 1