Menopause Often Missing From Women’s Medical Records

Menopause is rarely documented in electronic health records, even when patients say they are going through it. Researchers reviewed records for almost 240,000 women in the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program. Only 12% of those records mentioned menopause, while more than half of the women reported the transition in separate surveys.

The records also commonly lacked information about when menopause began or which symptoms were present. That matters because the timing and effects of menopause differ widely. Some people deal with hot flashes, poor sleep or trouble concentrating, while others have few disruptions. Menopause can also relate to later concerns involving heart health, bones and other conditions.

Better records could help researchers study these differences across large populations and improve individualized care. The research team is working on a brief questionnaire for patients to complete during check-in, with answers added to their medical records. They are also testing computer-based methods to identify menopause-related details already present elsewhere in health data and examining whether documentation varies by income, culture, location or healthcare system.