At-home menopause tests (also called “hormone panels” or “female health and hormone panels”) are a growing business. These tests aim to help women know when they’re entering menopause so they can take steps to alleviate symptoms.
“This leaves many women unsure of what to believe, and can result in either undertreatment or use of unproven approaches.”
Here’s what Dr. Christakis and other healthcare professionals who treat women in menopause want you to know about these direct-to-consumer tests.
What Is Hormone Panel Testing?
Hormone panel testing looks for specific hormone levels in the blood related to female reproductive health, including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol, and progesterone, says Lauren Streicher, MD, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago who did not contribute to the editorial.
The theory is that if a woman has lower levels of these hormones, she is experiencing perimenopause (the years leading up to menopause when periods become irregular) or in menopause (the first 12 consecutive months that a woman doesn’t have a period).
Some tests require you to go into a lab for a blood draw. Others come with a kit that has you prick your finger and mail back blood and urine samples. Results usually arrive some days later. The price can range from about $150 to $400.
At-Home Menopause Tests Have Pitfalls, Say Doctors
“Menopause is a clinical diagnosis, and hormone testing is unnecessary,” Christakis says. That means you can be diagnosed during a visit to your doctor, without testing, based in most cases on symptoms, age, and menstrual patterns.
There is total consensus on this among major health groups, Christakis adds, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Menopause Society.
Plus at-home menopause tests are too limited to offer any real diagnostic value, critics say. “Assessing reproductive hormones, which fluctuate very widely over the course of a menstrual cycle — 10- to 20-fold for estrogen and progesterone, even more for LH and FSH — is hazardous and has actually proved to be inaccurate in most situations,” says Nanette Santoro, MD, a professor and the E. Stewart Taylor Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, who wasn’t involved in the editorial.
Dr. Streicher points out that these tests merely provide a snapshot of where a woman’s hormone levels are in a specific moment. “It’s reflective of what your hormone levels were when you had the test, but not overall,” Streicher says.
Women Want Answers About Their Changing Health
Doctors point out that women are buying these tests, even though the panels don’t offer much information. “The demand from women comes from a sense that ‘things don’t feel right’ and the suspicion that one’s reproductive hormones are responsible for this,” Dr. Santoro says.
“These notions are usually correct. But there are no standards against which the measurements predict symptoms, and there are known, straightforward, and low-risk ways to treat the symptoms.”
Streicher says it’s understandable for women to want to know what’s going on with their own bodies, and they often want answers quickly. “If you have a doctor — and not everyone does — it may take a long time to be seen,” she says. “A home test can give you answers quickly, but this type of test is not useful.”
What to Do Instead of Taking a Hormone Panel
If you’re experiencing uncomfortable symptoms of perimenopause or menopause, Christakis recommends looking up information from reliable sources like national health guidelines or medical organizations like the Menopause Society, ACOG, and the Endocrine Society.
“These societies have lists of accredited menopause healthcare providers,” Christakis says. “Asking questions, weighing options, and avoiding quick fixes marketed online can help ensure you get care that meets your needs.”
ACOG also offers a guide for women, written by Santoro, on how to spot menopause misinformation.
Ultimately, doctors say at-home menopause tests are harmful to women. “The harms come from waste,” Santoro says. “It wastes money, it wastes time trying to interpret tests that really have no value, and there can be false abnormal results that lead to further useless testing.”
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