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Self-identification of the clinical fertile window and the ovulation period
Rene Ecochard1, Olivia Duterque1, Rene Leiva2
1Service de Biostatistique, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France; Université de Lyon, Lyon, France; Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France; Equipe Biostatistique-Santé, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5558, Villeurbanne, France.
Objective:
To assess the sensitivity and specificity of the self-identified fertile window.
Design:
Observational study.
Setting:
Not applicable.
Patient(S):
A total of 107 women.
Intervention(S):
Women recorded cervical mucus observation and basal body temperature daily while undergoing daily ovarian ultrasound.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
The biological fertile window, defined as the 6 days up to and including the day of ovulation; and the 2-day ovulation window, defined as the day before and the day of ovulation.
Result(S):
The self-identification of the biological fertile window by the observation of any type of cervical mucus provides 100% sensitivity but poor specificity, yielding a clinical fertile window of 11 days. However, the identification of the biological fertile window by peak mucus (defined as clear, slippery, or stretchy mucus related to estrogen) yielded 96% sensitivity and improved specificity. The appearance of the peak mucus preceded the biological fertile window in less than 10% of the cycles. Likewise, this type of mucus identified the ovulation window with 88% sensitivity.
Conclusion(S):
These results suggest that, when perceived accurately, more accurate clinical self-detection of the fertile window can be obtained by identification of peak mucus. This may improve efforts to focus intercourse in the fertile phase for couples with fertility concerns.
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