Using Internet technologies to improve and simplify counseling about menopause: the WISDOM website

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Medical Decision Making
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Assessing risks of menopausal hormone therapy (HT) is common, but patient preferences are paramount.
• HT risks for healthy women are minimal, making personal values crucial for decision-making.
• Informed HT decisions require balancing quality-of-life improvements against long-term risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of web-based decision support tools for menopausal counseling.
• To improve the quality of treatment decisions regarding menopause and HT.
• To provide individualized information on menopausal treatments' impact on symptoms and risks.

Main Methods:

• Development of a web-based decision support tool: Women's Interactive System about Decision On Menopause (WISDOM).
• Utilizing the internet to deliver individualized decision support for menopausal counseling.
• Testing the tool's impact on clinicians and patients.

Main Results:

• Preliminary trials indicate a positive impact of the WISDOM tool on both clinicians and patients.
• Web-based tools can help disseminate individualized decision support effectively.
• The tool aims to improve the rational use of resources in clinical practice.

Conclusions:

• Individual patient preferences and values are critical in menopausal hormone therapy decisions.
• Web-based decision support tools offer a promising approach to enhance menopausal counseling.
• Further development and testing of such tools are essential for optimizing patient care.