Andrews R, Lancastle D, Bache K, Lacey AS. Does Health & Her app use improve menopausal symptoms? A longitudinal cohort study. BMJ Open 2023;13(12):e077185. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077185
This large cohort pre-post longitudinal study of 1900 women assessed menopausal symptom reduction following the use of the Health & Her app. The Health & Her app is a mobile phone app that allows premenopausal and menopausal women to track their symptoms, symptom triggers (lifestyle and situational), and menstrual cycles. Users also have access to CBT modules (loss of sex drive, low mood, hot flushes), pelvic floor exercises, and guided meditations. Analysis of user data following two months of consistent use revealed that use of the Health & Her app could be linked to lower menopausal symptom scores. Encouragingly, the more individuals used and engaged with the app’s features, the greater the associated symptom reduction was. In general, the app was more effective at reducing psychological symptoms and least effective at reducing physical symptoms. While this could not be linked to an app feature, symptom tracking was associated with the greatest overall symptom reduction compared to other app features. Together these data provide encouraging evidence for the benefits of the Health & Her app for premenopausal and menopausal women.