Washington, July 6 (ANI): A new ovulation test has been developed and it has been accurate in its prediction so far.
While the calendar method predicted ovulation correctly in only one in four women, the ClearBlue Digital Ovulation test (20 test pack) predicted correctly in 99 percent of women over the same period.
Dr. Jayne Ellis, Director of Scientific and Medical Affairs at SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Geneva, Switzerland, makers of the test, explained that it consisted of a digital reader and urine test sticks, which could detect the surge in luteinising hormone (LH) that triggers ovulation.
"The test stick is held in the urine stream, and if the LH levels are elevated, a smiley face appears on the screen. This indicates that the woman is in a highly fertile phase," she explained.
"If there is no hormone surge, a circle is shown on the screen and the woman can test again the following day," she said.
Available on many websites and now on mobile phone applications, it is used by 35 percent of those attempting to conceive. However, up until now it had not been subjected to scientific scrutiny.
"We undertook a comparative analysis of the two methods - calendar and the Clearblue Digital Ovulation test - using a group of 101 women recruited via local press adverts and a website," Ellis said.
"The women collected a total of 895 daily urine samples. Ovulation was confirmed by using laboratory analysis of the LH surge, combined with a progesterone rise in the urine.
"This is a clinically validated method of confirming ovulation," she stated.
Cycle length in the study ranged from 14 to 50 days. The researchers found that use of the calendar method in women trying to conceive resulted in only one third of cycles where peak fertile days were correctly predicted.
By contrast, the Clearblue tests would have been conducted on the day of the LH surge in 77 percent of the cycles if a seven-stick pack had been used and start day was based on average cycle length.
In 6 percent of cycles the surge had occurred before the first test day, and in 17 percent of cycles it had occurred after the last test was conducted.
However, if a 20-stick pack was used, a test would have been conducted on the day of the LH surge in 99 percent of cycles.
Failure to conceive after six months of using an accurate product such as the Clearblue ovulation test is evidence that there may be an underlying fertility issue that should be investigated, especially in older women, the researchers said.
"Like the calendar method, our test is safe and non-invasive," Ellis said.
"But the difference is that it predicts ovulation accurately and therefore gives couples who want to get pregnant the chance to time intercourse correctly and maximise the chances of conception," she added. (ANI)
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