Our Transitions

Our Transitions: Improving the path to menopause with personal digital health technologies

Goal/Objective:

There is outcry from individuals experiencing the (peri)menopause transition reporting feeling isolated, dismissed, and helpless. There is a clear disconnect between standard knowledge provided by healthcare providers compared to individual experience of early signs. We need innovative ways to build the evidence base of individual symptom experiences so that tailored interventions can be developed and individuals can be better supported during this life transition. This study’s aim is to fill the considerable knowledge gap about the experience of perimenopause using objective and subjective data from a mobile app and wearable devices, and in the development of a rich, highly phenotyped open source dataset of objective and subjective physiological, behavioral and psychological experiences of individuals beginning in the late reproductive phase and continuing through to menopause. This project is intended to inform a larger main study that is aimed to empower individuals by enabling them to understand, manage and share their symptoms associated with hormonal changes using different modalities of sharing their experience with digital tools and engagement in a digital community.

Description of the study:

This study is a patient-led, feasibility, longitudinal study of female individuals (35-55 years) to capture novel information beginning with the earliest part of the path to menopause using personal digital health technologies (P-DHTs). A main cohort of 250 individuals will be recruited on a first come first serve basis, largely through the study partner, Women Living Better. Participants invited into the main cohort will be provisioned with an Oura smart ring and an Empatica smart wrist band and will be asked to download and use a study smartphone app that will track their symptoms in open ended and guided ways. Participants in the main cohort will also engage in every 2 weeks phone check-in calls with engagement specialists for support and to provide study feedback. Additional participants who personally own a wearable device will be invited to participate outside the main arm into a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) arm to participate in the use of the study app. This study will also test new patient-led research approaches to collecting and sharing data with frequent dialogue between participants and researchers, and potentially other participants in the study.

Size and Timing:

This study is expected to launch in Jan 2026. Up to 250 women will be invited into the main cohort. A BYOD cohort of individuals who already own a personal wearable device will be invited to participate in the use of the app with no upper limit on participation.

Funder:
Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation

Coalition and Collaboration Partners:
Women Living Better, Vector Institute