Overview
- A University of Colorado analysis of NIH 'All of Us' data reported on October 12 found that only about 14% of women who said they were menopausal had that status recorded in their electronic health records.
- Researchers compared survey answers to EHR entries for nearly 396,000 women and identified roughly 193,000 self‑reported menopause cases but only about 28,000 matching diagnoses in medical records.
- The study attributes the shortfall to clinicians not routinely asking or recording menopausal status and to the lack of standardized EHR fields where that status can be logged.
- Missing menopause timing makes it hard for researchers to separate hormonal effects from normal ageing, which complicates study of midlife risks such as the rise in cardiovascular disease after menopause.
- As an immediate step, authors and coverage advise patients to raise menopausal status with clinicians and request documentation while longer‑term fixes such as EHR standards or policy changes remain unaddressed.