Menopause may be underdocumented in EHRs

Surveys captured nearly 7 times as many menopause observations as structured clinical records, with high agreement when both sources identified menopause.

By
Andrea Surnit
September 14, 2026
4 min

MDSpire News

At a Glance

Category	Detail
Condition	Menopause
Key Mechanisms	Underreporting in electronic health records (EHRs) compared to self-reported surveys.
Target Population	Female participants recorded as female at birth in the All of Us Research Program.
Care Setting	Clinical research using electronic health records and survey data.

Key Highlights

Self-reported surveys identified nearly 7 times more menopause observations than EHR data.
Among participants with an EHR menopause diagnosis, over 99% reported permanent cessation of menstrual periods.
Limited documentation of menopause-related symptoms in structured EHR data.
EHR diagnoses showed a pronounced increase in menopause observations at age 65.
Survey data provided greater ascertainment of menopause than structured EHR diagnoses.

Guideline-Based Recommendations

Diagnosis

Consider both self-reported surveys and EHR data for a comprehensive assessment of menopause.

Management

Utilize multimodal data sources for future studies on menopause.

Monitoring & Follow-up

Monitor the documentation practices in EHRs to improve menopause-related data capture.

Risks

Be aware of potential response and recall bias in self-reported survey data.

Patient & Prescribing Data

Participants in the All of Us Research Program, primarily females.

Limited treatment insights due to underreporting in EHRs.

Clinical Best Practices

Encourage accurate documentation of menopause in EHRs.
Integrate survey data with EHRs for better understanding of menopause experiences.
Address sociodemographic differences in menopause reporting.