Offering pioneering scientific insights on women and their menstrual symptoms, Apple has released its Women's Health Study. While the preliminary data will help destigmatise menstrual symptoms, the discoveries will help Apple create innovative new features. Apple had introduced menstrual tracking software to the Health app with iOS 13 and Watch OS 6 in 2019.
Conducted using the Research app, the Apple Women's Health Study invites women across the US to contribute to research simply by using their iPhone, and Apple Watch if they have one. The study allows for the collection of a comprehensive set of cycle tracking and other health data, strengthened through participant surveys, from individuals across various stages of their life, varying races, and throughout all US states and territories. Participants control the data types shared with the study, with transparency into how the data will be used for the purposes of the study.
While this is an ongoing study for both enrollment and follow up among groups, the results published by Apple are preliminary analysis of data from participants conducted between November 2019 to December 2020.
The preliminary findings revealed that there are a wide range of menstrual cycle symptoms. Out of the first 10,000 participants who enrolled and responded to the demographics survey, 6,141 participants tracked period symptoms. The most commonly tracked symptom was abdominal cramps, which was reported by 83 per cent of the participants. Bloating was the second most reported symptom (63 per cent of participants), and tiredness was the third (61 per cent of participants).
Just over half of the participants reported experiencing acne (54 per cent) and headache (53 per cent). Half of the participants (50 per cent) reported mood changes and appetite changes. Lower back pain and breast tenderness were reported by slightly less than half of the participants. About 48 per cent reported lower back pain and 46 per cent reported breast tenderness. Diarrhoea and sleep changes were reported by 37 per cent of the participants. Constipation and nausea were each reported by 32 per cent of the participants. Finally, the least reported symptoms were hot flashes and ovulation pain. These symptoms were reported by 22 per cent and 20 per cent of the participants, respectively.
"These findings take us a step further in validating and destigmatizing period symptoms," said Dr Sumbul Desai, Apple's vice president of Health.
The data, based on a cohort of 10,000 participants and inclusive of varying ages and races across the US, highlights how large-scale, longitudinal research on menstruation can help advance the science around women's health and destigmatise menstruation.
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