The purpose of this website is to support healthcare professionals in providing menopausal care to patients. Women* are invited to review the menopausal information and resources found under the For Women tab. Watch this quick video on how to use the resources on this site.
Menopause-related symptoms such as vasomotor symptoms (i.e. hot flashes or night sweats) may start during the perimenopause, often in the mid to late 40’s. With the median age of menopause in Canada at age 51, symptoms may continue for 10 years or more for some patients.
The Menopause Quick 6 (MQ6) menopausal assessment tool/questionnaire was developed by a Canadian family physician to address important gaps in mature women’s* care. This tool provides health care professionals a fast and efficient way to screen mid-life women for common and treatable menopausal symptoms and provides questions to be asked, as recommended by a number of national and international guidelines. The MQ6 assessment tool and the accompanying evidence-based MQ6 treatment algorithm/decision tool were published in 2017 in the journal Canadian Family Physician and have been disseminated and utilized around the world. Versions of the MQ6 assessment tool have been validated internationally.
Comprised of just 6 brief questions, we encourage healthcare professionals to utilize the MQ6 assessment tool during clinical encounters with this cohort of mature women to facilitate a discussion and to assess their perimenopausal and menopausal concerns and need for treatment. Women can self-administer the tool to inform and support them in obtaining menopausal care.
With a positive screen, healthcare professionals can use the accompanying MQ6 treatment algorithm, a decision tool for guidance on choosing treatment options, in order to easily develop a personalized menopausal treatment plan. The original algorithm published in 2017 has been modified and updated to reflect more recent evidence and guidelines and integrated into an online interactive treatment decision tool. This simple-to- use online tool can be downloaded to your device or laptop and will function as an interactive “app” to provide quick but thorough recommendations for treatment of menopausal presentations. Whether using the paper-based algorithm or the online decision tool, in less than two minutes you can match the appropriate treatment to your patient’s unique needs and risk/benefit profile.
Following completion of the algorithm/decision tool, this site then also provides clinician support around up-to-date treatment options (including medication tables) and patient counselling.
In an attempt to honour mature women and optimize their health and quality of life, this site also provides further health promotion information. You will also find reference materials and links to external resources, curated specifically to support healthcare professionals and to inform women.
The Menopause Quick 6 Screen (MQ6)
Key questions to ask perimenopausal and menopausal women in assessing their need for treatment.
- Any changes in your periods?
- Are you having any hot flashes?
- Any vaginal dryness or pain or sexual concerns?
- Any bladder issues or incontinence?
- How is your sleep?
- How is your mood?
Susan Goldstein, MD, CCFP, FCFP, MSCP
I would like to thank and acknowledge the Canadian Menopause Society for their support in the development of this website.
Jeanne Bouteaud, MDCM, M.Sc., FRCSC
Timothy Rowe, MB BS, FRCSC, FRCOG
Wendy Wolfman, MD, FRCSC, FACOG, MSCP
Nese Yuksel, B.Sc.Pharm, PharmD, FCSHP, MSCP