At their best, menopause apps can help women track their periods and understand the many ways hormone changes may be affecting them, including their mood, sleep, sexual functioning, and energy levels. That information can help patients and providers make decisions about treatment.

On the other hand, they can provide too much information or lead women to overfocus on symptoms.

“If women are being prompted to say, ‘Did you have a hot flash?’ the app may be making them more aware of symptoms, and that can sometimes make people feel that their symptoms are more of a problem than they actually are,” explains Jacobson. “This can lead to worse outcomes like more sleep anxiety, because they are hyper-focused on how many times they woke up or how much REM sleep they got...ultimately, what really matters is, like, do you feel you slept well? Are you tired?”

They can also be misleading. Apps that correlate symptoms with at-home urine hormone tests are often not helpful because these tests have not been shown to be predictive of “their menopause journey, how they feel, the treatment that’s ultimately recommended for them,” explains Jacobson. Because of their unreliability, medical organizations recommend against blood or urine hormone testing to diagnose or manage perimenopause and menopause, except in very specific cases.

Menopause tracking apps can, however, help women feel more confident when speaking to their doctors, says Elizabeth Sillence, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Northumbria University. In addition to leading the 2023 study mentioned above, she conducted a qualitative study, including an online reflection exercise and interviews, with 29 peri- and postmenopausal women in the United Kingdom who had experience using menopause apps. Many women told Sillence “they’d experienced symptoms, they’d thought maybe this was menopause, and they’d talk to a healthcare provider who said, ‘Oh no, I don’t think that is it. Let’s talk about anxiety and depression,’” Sillence says. “A lot of people felt like they were being dismissed.”

According to the study, apps allow women to come “armed with evidence” and feel more confident requesting treatment. As one participant described, “I effectively had proof for the doctors ’cause you know they’re reluctant to take your word for it.”

When asked about the role menopause apps play, women’s responses centered around themes of “figuring it out myself,” “normalizing the experience,” and “taking control and deciding on next steps,” Sillence’s study found. One woman explained the app made her realize “how much of what I was experiencing was down to menopause. Menopause is no longer a mysterious dark art, it has tangible, recognized symptoms, which the app demonstrated.”

Sillence recommends that when patients present app-generated reports or insights, physicians use them as a jumping-off point for the conversation, rather than trying to interpret the app data. “You’ve only got a short period of time to chat with your patient, and the apps are all different in terms of what information they share and how they lay things out,” Sillence acknowledges. Many physicians understandably respond with, “What am I meant to do with this? What am I looking at here?” Sillence says.

She suggests physicians communicate to patients that they believe the symptoms they are experiencing are real and ask about their motivation for booking the consultation. For example, are they looking for information about how long symptoms may last and which lifestyle changes might help? Are they looking for information about pharmacological therapy?

For patients who want to better understand whether their symptoms may be associated with menopause, but find digital apps overwhelming or difficult to navigate, Jacobson recommends the free symptom tracker offered by the Menopause Foundation of Canada. The online and printable questionnaire prompts self-assessment on more than 30 symptoms, including body and joint aches, heart palpitations, concentration issues, low libido, and panic attacks.

Jacobson, who has advised several menopause-related app development teams, says menopause app developers are trying to fill a gap in health care, as many women say their provider doesn’t have time to share information about the menopause transition or discuss the often far-reaching and highly individualized nature of menopause. “Most of the people who are involved with these startups are really coming from a good place and trying to address a gap,” Jacobson says.

“I wouldn’t want someone to think that technology is bad or apps are bad. I’m certainly not saying that,” she adds. Apps that offer community forums and information can reassure women that their symptoms are common. Apps that provide education on possible therapies can make conversations with physicians more focused. As apps learn from aggregated patient data and incorporate AI analysis, they may be able to offer increasingly helpful insights, Jacobson says.

The danger lies less in the apps themselves than in the other services that privately developed menopause apps may promote, physicians argue. In a recent interview with TVO, Marie Christakis, MD, a menopause expert and OB-GYN with Mount Sinai Hospital, explained that many private companies promote “bio-identical” hormones that are “being custom-compounded in a way that removes a lot of the regulation and safety with these hormone therapies.” They can also be costly, despite having not been shown to offer benefits over commercially available hormones, which are typically covered by drug plans.

Symptom tracking can also prompt targeted marketing for unnecessary hormone testing and privately marketed treatments. As Christakis explained, “A lot of industry has now come out with measuring hormones and trying to follow this rollercoaster that women often take with their hormones and making it simple. But the truth around menopause and symptom management comes down to listening...and coming up with a management plan together.”