Study done on fertility apps

[icedtea]

Have you guys seen this? Most Popular Fertility Apps Can't Really Tell When You'll Get Pregnant, Says Study

If you click through to the study itself, it doesn't look like they included FF, unless it's under a name I don't recognize. 

I was a lit major, I need sciencey people to come and tell me their thoughts on this.

[joy]

I'm struggling with this report.

I never used an app to tell me when to have sex, to know when I got pregnant, or expected miracle fertility information from it.

I tracked my temps/cervical mucus so I knew in hindsight if there was a chance of pregnancy. It was all about looking BACK not looking FORWARD.

I think many women who just download the apps don't appreciate that minor nuance of information. An app will not tell you when you have to have sex/not have sex for pregnancy. It's never been about that so of course all these apps are failing.

Don't get me started on the ones that just assume you have a 28 day cycle. Those apps shouldn't even exist.

Primarily, I'm disenheartened by the lack of education surrounding fertility. I read GBCN and regularly see horrid misinformation regarding pregnancy/fertility because the true science around it simply isn't taught. Add it to the list of things that kids should know, including basic budgeting and finances.

[pinkcat]

I would just like to +1 everything joy said!

Even the title of that article is very frustrating to me. I mean, duh-of course an app can't tell you when you'll get pregnant.

[joy]

Ah, I just read the abstract of the study. YAY. They agree with what I'm saying: it's a great tool, but you need to the proper education to understand what to look for, what you're measuring, and what the app should be telling you if you want it to be effective.

[ironbaby]

Glow's response was horrible:
We should have been excluded because we have fine print too!

Not standing behind their data, not saying that the info has to be interpreted retroactively, just "you should have excluded us!"

[icedtea]

Jul 13, 2016 10:48:08 GMT -5 pinkcat said:

I would just like to +1 everything joy said!

Even the title of that article is very frustrating to me. I mean, duh-of course an app can't tell you when you'll get pregnant.

I kind of cocked my head at the title too. I'm more baffled by how the article is positioning things than by what the report is saying (everything joy's saying makes perfect sense).

[icedtea]

It honestly didn't occur to me that someone would get an app like this and think "Okay, now I don't have to pay attention, it'll just work!"

I may have too much faith in people.

[pismoduo]

Jul 13, 2016 11:12:33 GMT -5 icedtea said:

It honestly didn't occur to me that someone would get an app like this and thing "Okay, now I don't have to pay attention, it'll just work!"

I may have too much faith in people.

As someone who's spent way too many years working in IT... I have not a lot of faith in people.
Save

[butlerfan]

Jul 13, 2016 11:12:33 GMT -5 icedtea said:

It honestly didn't occur to me that someone would get an app like this and thing "Okay, now I don't have to pay attention, it'll just work!"

I may have too much faith in people.

Ha Ha I wish it worked that way. I would be in shape because I downloaded a fitness app. And I would be pregnant with twins because I had two fertility apps....lol

[♪♫choppinbroccoli♫♪]

I saw this a few weeks ago. FF wasn't included because they have an appropriate disclaimer. A lot of apps weren't included for this reason.

[jax1182014]

I read the evidence based practice article and I believe what the article is saying is that most of these apps miss the actual range of fertile days. So if someone was using these apps to avoid pregnancy and had sex on a "non fertile day" they may actually be in a fertile day. Also, if someone was using the app to get pregnant they could be missing out on important fertile days. Then it says that if you are experienced in fertility awareness based methods, it can be a good tool to track your own fertility. It seems the object of this article is more about relying on apps that if you have EWCM one day it just assumes you ovulate the next day. They are more upset by the lack of evidence based practice in most of the apps algorithm.

[icedtea]

Jul 13, 2016 11:46:43 GMT -5 butlerfan said:

Jul 13, 2016 11:12:33 GMT -5 icedtea said:

It honestly didn't occur to me that someone would get an app like this and thing "Okay, now I don't have to pay attention, it'll just work!"

I may have too much faith in people.

Ha Ha I wish it worked that way. I would be in shape because I downloaded a fitness app. And I would be pregnant with twins because I had two fertility apps....lol

I could really get behind that one.

[butlerfan]

And everything I pinned on pinterest would be mine as well...lol

[irish14]

Jul 13, 2016 13:33:52 GMT -5 butlerfan said:

And everything I pinned on pinterest would be mine as well...lol

i would like to live in this world.

And I would also speak more languages because I downloaded duolingo...