Do YOU use fertility apps to prevent pregnancy? They may not be as reliable as you’d hoped
Some think they're just as good as condoms or the contraceptive pill... but apparently this isn't the case
DO you use fertility apps to stop you getting pregnant?
After an explosion in the medical app market, there are now nearly 100 programmes which allow women to track their fertility and menstrual cycles.
And, apparently, more and more couples are turning their backs on contraception such as the pill and condoms in favour of these trackers.
The apps are thought to help ladies conceive or avoid getting pregnant – but, , they are not quite as reliable as you might hope.
As study author and family doctor Marguerite Duane explains: “Apps offer a convenient way to track fertility biomarkers.
“However, only some use evidence-based fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs), which with ideal use have rates of effectiveness similar to those of commonly used forms of hormonal birth control.
“Since having a baby or preventing a pregnancy are important responsibilities, it is critical that women and couples have access to reliable, evidence-based apps that allow them to accurately track their fertility.”
The apps allow women to input information every month, and produce a ‘future cycle forecast’ – including each lady’s fertility window and the due date of their next period.
The researchers rated 95 fertility apps for accuracy based on 10 criteria for avoiding pregnancy, developed by Family Practice Management.
They immediately ruled out 55 apps, which either had a disclaimer saying users shouldn’t use them for contraception or didn’t use fertility awareness based methods.
A further 10 didn’t track fertility – and of the remaining 30 only SIX APPS were found to have a perfect score on accuracy, or no false negatives (days of fertility classified as infertile).
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Which means 89 of them were not thought to be reliable methods.
Dr Duane concludes: “Relying solely on an app to use an FABM, without appropriate training in the method, may not be sufficient to prevent pregnancy.”
The study was published in the Journal of American Board of Family Medicine.