MENSTRUAL APP RESEARCH
Menstrual health is important to the wellbeing of individuals and societies. New technologies such as period-tracking apps can help to understand our cycles, but to use these apps effectively we need to know their strengths and limitations.
Our research answers this question through interrelated projects:
MAUS: Menstrual App User Study
MAST: Menstrual App Symptom Tracking
MAPP-MI: Menstrual Apps as Medical Information
Leading these projects is Associate Professor Bryndl Hohmann-Marriott in the School of Social Sciences at Otago University, together with Associate Professor Jane Girling in the Department of Anatomy at Otago University. We work with an awesome team of colleagues and research assistants that are here at Our People.
We’ve just finished our initial data collection for the Menstrual Apps as Medical Information project, and our preliminary findings are coming together.
Key messages:
- Menstrual apps provide a calendar history of cycles and symptoms that is helpful for app users and healthcare providers.
- People who have menstrual cycle-related conditions would like their apps to help them manage conditions and symptoms but find their current apps unsuitable.
- Period apps offer an opportunity for learning, education, and self-knowledge, but this depends on the quality of the app.
- An open question is whether apps could or should play a role in self-diagnosis.
For more, see Menstrual Apps as Medical Information.
Here are the words people associate with period-tracking apps:
We’re happy to hear your ideas or questions about our research, please Contact us at NTRW @ otago.ac.nz
Would you like to know about these types of apps? Check out our Explainer page!
