Home- or hospital-based monitoring to time frozen embryo transfer in the natural cycle? Patient-reported outcomes and experiences from the Antarctica-2 randomised controlled trial
Zaat et al.
The finding, in our words
In a randomised trial of 260 women undergoing natural cycle frozen embryo transfer, home-based ovulation monitoring using urine LH tests provided greater feelings of empowerment and treatment discretion compared with hospital monitoring, despite similar increases in anxiety and sadness across both pathways.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
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.
Peebles et al., Journal of medical Internet research · source ↗
All five at-home urine ovulation predictor kits demonstrated high accuracy (92–97%) when compared with blood LH levels, though sensitivity varied widely from 38% to 77% with Clinical Guard the lowest. Patient experience was comparable across kits, though Clinical Guard was slightly less favoured for future use.
Vanderhoff et al., Fertility and sterility (paywalled) · source ↗
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.
Medvescek & Allen, Drug and alcohol dependence reports (paywalled) · source ↗
Fertility patients commonly use direct-to-consumer ovulation prediction methods, yet reproductive endocrinologists rate the utility of these tests substantially lower than patients do. This discordance highlights the need for better patient education and guidelines to inform self-collection and interpretation of fertility biomarkers in decentralised care.
Peipert et al., Reproductive biomedicine online (paywalled) · source ↗
The study found that the Premom and Easy@Home urine-based luteinizing hormone testing systems provided estimates of peak fertility that were highly correlated with the Clearblue Fertility Monitor, suggesting they are accurate tools for ovulation detection and easy to use at home.