Mobile Health (mHealth) apps focused on menopause: Are they any good?

Self-management eHealth solutions for menopause - a systematic scoping review

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this scoping review was to highlight the current scientific evidence on eHealth-based information tools for menopause in terms of quality, requirements and previous intervention outcomes.

METHODS

We systematically searched electronic databases (Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Global Health Database [Ovid], Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov [NLM], LIVIVO Search Portal [ZB MED] and Google Scholar) from 1974 to March 2022 for relevant records.

RESULTS

Our search yielded 1773 records, of which 28 met our inclusion criteria. Thirteen of 28 selected studies were cross-sectional with qualitative content analysis of websites about menopause; 9 studies were cohort studies examining the impact of an eHealth intervention; two studies were randomized controlled trials comparing eHealth tools with conventional ones; and four studies were non-systematic literature reviews.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review highlights the potential of eHealth-based information tools for the management of menopause and shows that most eHealth-based information tools are inadequate in terms of readability and the balanced view on information. Providers of eHealth-based information tools should pay attention to a participatory design, readability, balance of content and the use of multimedia tools for information delivery to improve understanding.

Designing, validation and evaluation of the expert system of "Healthy Menopause" and assessing its effect on the management of menopause symptoms: an exploratory mixed method study protocol

BACKGROUND

Menopause is a period of women's life that has the especial physical, psychological and social challenges. So provision of an effective, practical and affordable way for meeting women's related needs is important. In addition, women should be able to incorporate such programs into their daily work. Considering the dearth of suitable services in this regard, this study will be conducted with the aim of designing, validating and evaluating the "Healthy Menopause" expert system on the management of menopausal symptoms.

METHODS/DESIGN

A mixed methods exploratory design will be used to conduct this study in 3 phases. The first phase is a qualitative conventional content analysis study with purposes of exploring the women's experience of menopausal symptoms and extracting their needs, and collecting data about their expectations from a healthy menopause expert system.. The purposive sampling (In his phase data will be gathered through interviewing menopaused women aged 40 to 60 years old and other persons that have rich information in this regard and will be continued until data saturation. The second phase includes designing a healthy menopause expert system in this stage, the needs will be extracted from the qualitative findings along with a comprehensive literature review. The extracted needs will be again confirmed by the participants. Then, through a participatory approach (Participatory Design) using nominal group or Delphi technique the experts' opinion about the priority needs of menopaused women and related solutions will be explored based on the categories of identified needs. Such findings will be used to design a healthy menopause expert system at this stage. The third phase of study is a quantitative research in which the evaluation of the healthy menopause expert system will be done through a randomized controlled clinical trial with the aim of determining the effect of the healthy menopause expert system on the management of menopause symptoms by menopausal women themselves.

DISCUSSION

This is the first study that uses a mixed method approach for designing, validating and evaluating of the expert system "Healthy Menopause". This study will fill the research gap in the field of improving menopausal symptoms and designing a healthy menopause expert system based on the needs of the large group of menopause women. We hope that by applying this expert system, the menopausal women be empowered to management and improving their health with an easy and affordable manner.

A systematic review of menopause apps with an emphasis on osteoporosis

BACKGROUND

Menopause can significantly hasten bone loss. Mobile phones provide an efficient way to manage, track and understand menopause using apps. A previous review of menopause apps found numerous apps designed to help women manage menopause. However, it did not use validated measures to assess the quality of the apps and did not focus on content related to osteoporosis.

METHODS

This app review aligns with the updated Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. The keywords used to search for the apps were "menopause" and "menopausal". Apps were included if they were in English, for individuals or groups and had a lifestyle focus. Apps that looked at other aspects of women's health, required external devices, cost to download, or were symptom-tracking were excluded. The quality and functionality were assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale and IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics Functionality score. Data were synthesised descriptively.

RESULTS

Twenty-eight apps were selected and reviewed from the 236 apps screened from the Apple store and Google play store. Only 57% of the apps reviewed (n = 16) had content on osteoporosis which was educational in purpose. The readability of the apps was complex and best understood by university graduates. The average functionality score of the apps reviewed was 4.57 out of 11 and that of quality is 3.1 out of 5, both of which need improvement.

CONCLUSIONS

Existing menopause apps need more input from experts to improve the quality and functionality, using simple language. More emphasis on specific health problems during menopause, including osteoporosis, is required.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Not relevant.

Menopause knowledge and education in women under 40: Results from an online survey

BACKGROUND

All women experience the menopause, yet education around the topic is limited. Studies conducted in women aged over 40 show that women have limited knowledge about the menopause.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to understand what women under 40 know about the menopause, how they have acquired this knowledge and where they think menopause education should be taught. This data will help to determine how to effectively deliver menopause education.

DESIGN

A survey was designed that asked women under 40 what they know of, and their attitudes to, the menopause, using Qualtrics XM software.

METHODS

The survey was advertised for 5 weeks on social media. Six questions related to menopause education were analysed. Responses between age groups under 20, 21-30 and over 30 were compared using a chi-square test. A thematic-style analysis was also conducted on a free-text question where answers referred to education.

RESULTS

A total of 738 women's responses were included in the analysis; over 80% had no knowledge or just some knowledge of the menopause. Women over 30 used official websites (p = 0.017) and scientific literature (p = 0.047) significantly more than other age groups to learn about the menopause, while women under 20 were more likely to learn from family members (p = 0.002). These women felt education should start in schools.

CONCLUSION

Many women under 40 have limited education of the menopause. Women under 20 are more passive in their approach to learning about the menopause compared with those over 30, who are more proactive. Menopause education strategies must start at school and extend beyond schools adopting a multifaceted approach; it is recommended that the workplace, social media and public health campaigns are used to deliver menopause education moving forward.

Potential effects of virtual interventions for menopause management: a systematic review

IMPORTANCE

Menopausal women are one of the fastest growing demographic groups globally. Virtual interventions have emerged as alternate avenues for menopausal women to manage and cope with their symptoms.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this review is to summarize existing research on the potential effects of virtual interventions for menopause management.

EVIDENCE REVIEW

This systematic review was written in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. MEDLINE, PsychINFO, CINAHL, AgeLine, ERIC, ProQuest, Nursing and Allied Health Database, PsychARTICLES, and Sociology Database were used for literature search and searched from conception to December 2021. Original studies, including randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies, were included if they evaluated a virtual intervention for menopause management and investigated the effects of these interventions on physical and psychosocial outcomes and/or the feasibility of these interventions among menopausal women. Included studies were published in peer-reviewed journals and assessed for quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program Checklists.

FINDINGS

A total of 16 articles were included in this review. Virtual interventions have the potential to improve physical health outcomes including body weight/body mass index/waist circumference, pain, blood pressure, and cholesterol. However, conflicting results were identified for the outcomes of vasomotor and endocrine symptoms, sleep, and sexual functioning. Virtual interventions might also improve psychosocial outcomes, including knowledge and patient-physician communication, although conflicting results were again identified for treatment decision-making ability, quality of life, and anxiety and depression. Virtual interventions were feasible in terms of being usable and cost-effective, and eliciting satisfaction and compliance among menopausal women.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Virtual interventions might have the potential to improve the physical and psychosocial health outcomes of menopausal women, although some conflicting findings arose. Future studies should focus on including diverse menopausal women and ethnic minorities, conducting research within low- to middle-income countries and communities, further exploring intervention design to incorporate features that are age and culture sensitive, and conducting full randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effects of the interventions.

Improving online clinical sexual and reproductive health information to support self-care: A realist review

Self-care is the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider. In the field of sexual and reproductive health options for self-care predominantly include ordering contraceptives online, or testing and treating genital infections outside a healthcare setting. The shift to digitally facilitated self-care consequently requires information that was previously used by clinicians to be made available to those managing their own sexual and reproductive health. This review was specifically interested in how to optimise this informational enabling environment as self-care becomes more complex. Using a realist approach to facilitate collation, analysis and synthesis of research from multiple disciplines this review sought to enable the generation of a programme theory to inform service development. The majority of research we identified studied information to support the choice to self-care and access to self-care. In contrast to established areas of self-care, for example, the management of diabetes or hypertension, studies of the self-care process in sexual and reproductive health are lacking. There is significant potential to expand digital information resources to support sexual and reproductive health self-care, however, there are currently significant unmet informational needs. This review proposes six key recommendations for providers and key stakeholders involved with sexual and reproductive healthcare for the improvement of digital self-care services.