Free Menopause Mobile App

By Sondra Forsyth

The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) is set to launch a first-ever menopause mobile app, MenoPro, designed for use by both clinicians and patients to help manage menopausal symptoms and assess risk factors. An article about the app is published in the October 15th 2014 issue of Menopause.

A release from NAMS explains that MenoPro offers two modes, one for health care providers and the other for patients, and allows users to access NAMS resources and an internal cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk score calculator. The app can email a summary of the decision-making process and information handouts to the patient.

The release quotes JoAnn Manson, MD, NAMS scientific program chair and lead author of the article, as saying, “This new app represents a major step forward for both clinicians and patients looking to make more informed health care decisions. According to Dr. Manson, who is also a past president of NAMS, the new iPhone/iPad app is expected to revolutionize the management of menopausal symptoms and use the most recent science to help clinicians decide which patients are candidates for pharmacologic treatment and to personalize their care.

Dr. Margery Gass, the executive director of NAMS, a practicing GYN and co-author of the Menopause article, applauds the capabilities of the new app. “One of the most difficult and controversial health care decisions most women face during midlife is whether or not to use prescription medications for menopausal symptom management,” says Dr. Gass. “Given the expanded array of treatment options and contradictory information available, many women feel overwhelmed. But this new app is designed to streamline the decision-making process and encourages patients to communicate and work together with their clinicians to identify a personalized treatment path.”

In addition to its other features, the algorithm and MenoPro app address options for hot flashes and/or night sweats, as well as genitourinary symptoms including vaginal dryness or pain with intercourse or other sexual activities. Convenient links provide information about lifestyle modifications that can be helpful, as well as treatment options, formulations and doses, and contraindications to therapy.

The MenoPro app, which will launch by late October pending final approval from Apple, contains no advertising and was developed by NAMS without industry involvement. It will be demonstrated in its public debut at the NAMS 25th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, which kicks off on October 15th.