The NORMA Study

Summary

Female participants are often excluded from research studies because of the challenges of incorporating the menstrual cycle (MC) and our scientific knowledge is reduced because of lower female participation rates. Health and MC apps are becoming increasingly popular, and they have the capability of helping us understand more about the MC and its variability. However, there are limited studies using apps to track the MC in real time. This study aims to fill in our research and knowledge gap by recruiting female participants. The study goals are to assess a female health app that uses MC tracking tools and compare the app’s output to objective measures of hormone levels.

Participant benefits are: 1) Identifying ovulation, 2) Assessing hormone levels and what they mean with your cycle, 3) Free access for 6 months to a female health app, and 4) A chance to win $100.

We are recruiting, naturally cycling females to participate in a study that involves tracking the MC through 1) calendar counting, 2) urinary ovulation identification, and 3) salivary measure of hormones towards the end of the MC. The study duration for each participant in this study is 3 to 4 months. Participants will be asked to complete baseline and monthly surveys, daily app use, up to 10 days of urinary ovulation, and one day of salivary hormones. The typical time commitment is approximately 10-minutes/day.