Home-based monitoring of ovulation to time frozen embryo transfers in the Netherlands (Antarctica-2): an open-label, nationwide, randomised, non-inferiority trial
Zaat et al.
The finding, in our words
Home-based monitoring of ovulation for timing frozen embryo transfer produced ongoing pregnancy rates of 20.8% in 732 women, which was non-inferior to the 20.9% rate with hospital-controlled monitoring (risk difference -0.14%, 90% CI -3.63 to 3.36). This randomised trial supports decentralised fertility care without compromising pregnancy outcomes.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
In a study of 46 perinatal nicotine users, dried blood spots and saliva were used weekly to measure reproductive hormones, finding that lower postpartum estradiol and greater peripartum declines in oxytocin were associated with increased nicotine craving and use. This demonstrates the feasibility of decentralised microsampling and remote surveys for longitudinal hormone tracking in vulnerable populations.
In female shift workers, 0.3 mg melatonin reduced climacteric symptoms by 15.8% compared with placebo and improved sleep quality on days off by 35.33%, with no shift interaction; home blood sampling enabled measurement of LH, FSH, estradiol and progesterone.
Only 24% of participants completed this two-cycle feasibility study of AI-interpreted salivary ferning for ovulation prediction in females with irregular cycles, with 44% withdrawing citing cycle irregularity, pregnancy, or time constraints. The authors concluded that decentralised fertility trials must streamline procedures and provide ovulatory health education to improve retention and reduce burden before smartphone-based diagnostics can be scaled for this population.
A remote protocol combining daily surveys with weekly self-collected dried blood spots achieved a 92% study completion rate and high acceptability among reproductive-age women smokers, with 87% of participants collecting most samples and the same proportion extremely willing to repeat the study. This feasibility demonstrates that decentralised microsampling can support longitudinal research on hormonal contraceptive effects and smoking behaviour.
Women using a connected urine ovulation test in this home-based randomised trial achieved a live birth rate of 16.4% in the first cycle versus 8.5% in controls (odds ratio 2.12, p=0.001). The result demonstrates that decentralised hormone monitoring improves fertility outcomes, with 78% of all pregnancies ending in live birth.