A quick method to customize pictorial blood assessment tools towards better measurement: Method development and...

Area of Science:

• Gynecology and Obstetrics
• Women's Health
• Medical Devices

Background:

• Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) identification in primary care often relies on pictorial blood assessment charts (PBACs).
• Challenges exist in accurately assessing menstrual blood loss using existing tools.
• Standardized and patient-reported methods are needed for efficient HMB assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a standardized method for customizing patient-reported PBACs.
• To validate the accuracy of the developed PBAC tool.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of using customized PBACs in resource-scarce settings.

Main Methods:

• Developed customized PBACs for regular, long, and night sizes using menstrual cups and sanitary pad icons.
• Collected menstrual blood samples and participant feedback from 21 women (aged 30-51).
• Validated the tool with 9 participants and used linear regression to correlate scores with blood weight.

Main Results:

• Customized pictorial charts were feasible to create, incorporating product-sensitive and size-specific designs.
• Linear regression showed a strong correlation between scored values and actual blood weight (R² ≈ 0.95, p < 0.001).
• The method achieved approximately 95% accuracy in estimating menstrual blood weight.

Conclusions:

• Validated, patient-reported PBACs offer an innovative solution for HMB identification in women's healthcare.
• This tool can reduce healthcare expenditure by mitigating risks associated with HMB complications.
• The method is adaptable to diverse economic and technological contexts, potentially improving health literacy.