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Survey Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies

Background and Objectives: Digital health and personalized medicine are advancing at an unprecedented pace. Users can document their menstrual cycle data in a variety of ways, including smartphone applications (apps), temperature tracking devices, and at-home urine hormone tests. Understanding the n...

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Autores principales: Stujenske, Theresa M., Mu, Qiyan, Pérez Capotosto, Melisssa, Bouchard, Thomas P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10534579/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37763628
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina59091509
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author Stujenske, Theresa M.
Mu, Qiyan
Pérez Capotosto, Melisssa
Bouchard, Thomas P.
author_facet Stujenske, Theresa M.
Mu, Qiyan
Pérez Capotosto, Melisssa
Bouchard, Thomas P.
author_sort Stujenske, Theresa M.
collection PubMed
description Background and Objectives: Digital health and personalized medicine are advancing at an unprecedented pace. Users can document their menstrual cycle data in a variety of ways, including smartphone applications (apps), temperature tracking devices, and at-home urine hormone tests. Understanding the needs and goals of women using menstrual cycle tracking technologies is the first step to making these technologies more evidence based. The purpose of this study was to examine the current use of these technologies and explore how they are being used within the context of common hormonal and reproductive disorders, like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, and infertility. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study evaluating menstrual cycle tracking technology use. Participants were recruited in January–March 2023 using social media groups and a Marquette Method instructor email listserv. Data were collected using an electronic survey with Qualtrics. Data collected included participant demographics, menstrual cycle characteristics, reproductive health history, and menstrual cycle tracking behavior. Results: Three-hundred and sixty-eight participants were included in the analysis. Women had various motivations for tracking their menstrual cycles. Most participants (72.8%) selected “to avoid getting pregnant” as the primary motivation. Three hundred and fifty-six participants (96.7%) reported using a fertility awareness-based method to track and interpret their menstrual cycle data. The Marquette Method, which utilizes urine hormone tracking, was the most frequently used method (n = 274, 68.2%). The most frequently used cycle technology was a urine hormone test or monitor (n = 299, 81.3%), followed by a smartphone app (n = 253, 68.8%), and a temperature tracking device (n = 116, 31.5%). Women with PCOS (63.6%), endometriosis (61.8%), and infertility (75%) in our study reported that the use of tracking technologies aided in the diagnosis. Most participants (87.2%) reported a high degree of satisfaction with their use and that they contributed to their reproductive health knowledge (73.9%). Conclusions: Women in our study reported avoiding pregnancy as their primary motivation for using menstrual cycle tracking technologies, with the most frequently used being a urine hormone test or monitor. Our study results emphasize the need to validate these technologies to support their use for family planning. Given that most women in this study reported using a fertility awareness-based method, the results cannot be generalized to all users of menstrual cycle tracking technologies.
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spelling pubmed-105345792023-09-29 Survey Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies Stujenske, Theresa M. Mu, Qiyan Pérez Capotosto, Melisssa Bouchard, Thomas P. Medicina (Kaunas) Article Background and Objectives: Digital health and personalized medicine are advancing at an unprecedented pace. Users can document their menstrual cycle data in a variety of ways, including smartphone applications (apps), temperature tracking devices, and at-home urine hormone tests. Understanding the needs and goals of women using menstrual cycle tracking technologies is the first step to making these technologies more evidence based. The purpose of this study was to examine the current use of these technologies and explore how they are being used within the context of common hormonal and reproductive disorders, like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, and infertility. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study evaluating menstrual cycle tracking technology use. Participants were recruited in January–March 2023 using social media groups and a Marquette Method instructor email listserv. Data were collected using an electronic survey with Qualtrics. Data collected included participant demographics, menstrual cycle characteristics, reproductive health history, and menstrual cycle tracking behavior. Results: Three-hundred and sixty-eight participants were included in the analysis. Women had various motivations for tracking their menstrual cycles. Most participants (72.8%) selected “to avoid getting pregnant” as the primary motivation. Three hundred and fifty-six participants (96.7%) reported using a fertility awareness-based method to track and interpret their menstrual cycle data. The Marquette Method, which utilizes urine hormone tracking, was the most frequently used method (n = 274, 68.2%). The most frequently used cycle technology was a urine hormone test or monitor (n = 299, 81.3%), followed by a smartphone app (n = 253, 68.8%), and a temperature tracking device (n = 116, 31.5%). Women with PCOS (63.6%), endometriosis (61.8%), and infertility (75%) in our study reported that the use of tracking technologies aided in the diagnosis. Most participants (87.2%) reported a high degree of satisfaction with their use and that they contributed to their reproductive health knowledge (73.9%). Conclusions: Women in our study reported avoiding pregnancy as their primary motivation for using menstrual cycle tracking technologies, with the most frequently used being a urine hormone test or monitor. Our study results emphasize the need to validate these technologies to support their use for family planning. Given that most women in this study reported using a fertility awareness-based method, the results cannot be generalized to all users of menstrual cycle tracking technologies. MDPI 2023-08-22 /pmc/articles/PMC10534579/ /pubmed/37763628 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina59091509 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Stujenske, Theresa M.
Mu, Qiyan
Pérez Capotosto, Melisssa
Bouchard, Thomas P.
Survey Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies
title Survey Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies
title_full Survey Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies
title_fullStr Survey Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies
title_full_unstemmed Survey Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies
title_short Survey Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Menstrual Cycle Tracking Technologies
title_sort survey analysis of quantitative and qualitative menstrual cycle tracking technologies
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10534579/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37763628
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina59091509
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