1. The Accuracy of Wrist Skin Temperature in Detecting Ovulation Compared to Basal Body Temperature: Prospective Comparative Diagnostic Accuracy Study
- Author
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Zhu, Tracy Y, Rothenbühler, Martina, Hamvas, Györgyi, Hofmann, Anja, Welter, JoEllen, Kahr, Maike, Kimmich, Nina, Shilaih, Mohaned, Leeners, Brigitte, University of Zurich, and Leeners, Brigitte
- Subjects
Ovulation ,Correlation coefficient ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics ,R858-859.7 ,610 Medicine & health ,Health Informatics ,wearable ,Body Temperature ,BBT ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Pregnancy ,sensor ,Follicular phase ,oral temperature ,Humans ,Basal body temperature ,Medicine ,Prospective Studies ,Circadian rhythm ,10026 Clinic for Obstetrics ,Menstrual cycle ,2718 Health Informatics ,media_common ,fertility ,Original Paper ,mobile phone ,030219 obstetrics & reproductive medicine ,business.industry ,Temperature ,Repeated measures design ,Wrist ,10175 Clinic for Reproductive Endocrinology ,thermometer ,basal body temperature ,wrist skin temperature ,Female ,diagnostic accuracy ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 ,menstruation ,Skin Temperature ,Luteinizing hormone ,business ,Nuclear medicine ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
Background As a daily point measurement, basal body temperature (BBT) might not be able to capture the temperature shift in the menstrual cycle because a single temperature measurement is present on the sliding scale of the circadian rhythm. Wrist skin temperature measured continuously during sleep has the potential to overcome this limitation. Objective This study compares the diagnostic accuracy of these two temperatures for detecting ovulation and to investigate the correlation and agreement between these two temperatures in describing thermal changes in menstrual cycles. Methods This prospective study included 193 cycles (170 ovulatory and 23 anovulatory) collected from 57 healthy women. Participants wore a wearable device (Ava Fertility Tracker bracelet 2.0) that continuously measured the wrist skin temperature during sleep. Daily BBT was measured orally and immediately upon waking up using a computerized fertility tracker with a digital thermometer (Lady-Comp). An at-home luteinizing hormone test was used as the reference standard for ovulation. The diagnostic accuracy of using at least one temperature shift detected by the two temperatures in detecting ovulation was evaluated. For ovulatory cycles, repeated measures correlation was used to examine the correlation between the two temperatures, and mixed effect models were used to determine the agreement between the two temperature curves at different menstrual phases. Results Wrist skin temperature was more sensitive than BBT (sensitivity 0.62 vs 0.23; P Conclusions For women interested in maximizing the chances of pregnancy, wrist skin temperature continuously measured during sleep is more sensitive than BBT for detecting ovulation. The difference in the diagnostic accuracy of these methods was likely attributed to the greater temperature increase in the postovulatory phase and greater temperature decrease during the menstrual phase for the wrist skin temperatures.
- Published
- 2021