The DOI matches its Crossref record; 70 of the 71 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Modern fertility awareness methods: wrist wearables capture the changes in temperature associated with the menstrual cycle
Open accessAbstract
Core and peripheral body temperatures are affected by changes in reproductive hormones during the menstrual cycle. Women worldwide use the basal body temperature (BBT) method to aid and prevent conception. However, prior research suggests that taking one’s daily temperature can prove inconvenient and subject to environmental factors. We investigate whether a more automatic, non-invasive temperature measurement system can detect changes in temperature across the menstrual cycle. We examined how wrist skin temperature (WST), measured with wearable sensors, correlates with urinary tests of ovulation and may serve as a new method of fertility tracking. One hundred and thirty-six eumenorrheic, non-pregnant women participated in an observational study. Participants wore WST biosensors during sleep and reported their daily activities. An at-home luteinizing hormone (LH) test was used to confirm ovulation. WST was recorded across 437 cycles (mean cycles/participant = 3.21, S.D. = 2.25). We tested the relationship between the fertile window and WST temperature shifts, using the BBT three-over-six rule. A sustained 3-day temperature shift was observed in 357/437 cycles (82%), with the lowest cycle temperature occurring in the fertile window 41% of the time. Most temporal shifts (307/357, 86%) occurred on ovulation day (OV) or later. The average early-luteal phase temperature was 0.33°C higher than in the fertile window. Menstrual cycle changes in WST were impervious to lifestyle factors, like having sex, alcohol, or eating prior to bed, that, in prior work, have been shown to obfuscate BBT readings. Although currently costlier than BBT, the present study suggests that WST could be a promising, convenient parameter for future multiparameter fertility awareness methods.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“basal body temperature (BBT; defined as lowest resting body temperature) based apps that detect the BBT rise,20–22”
From Real-world menstrual cycle characteristics of more than 600,000 menstrual cycles (2019) · cites this paper as [21]
In the citing paper
“One study that investigated the possibility of detecting a decrease in skin temperature (measured at the wrist) before ovulation revealed that a pre-ovulatory temperature nadir was detected in only 41% of cycles, suggesting that prospective determination of ovulation with this method was not robust [177].”
From Temperature regulation in women: Effects of the menstrual cycle (2020) · cites this paper as [177]
In the citing paper
“- In only 41% of cycles, a T nadir (lowest T in a given cycle) was detected in a 5-day period pre-ovulation.”
From Temperature regulation in women: Effects of the menstrual cycle (2020) · cites this paper as [177]
In the citing paper
“- Showed an upward shift in wrist skin T in 82% of cycles, with higher average skin T in LP than early FP.”
From Temperature regulation in women: Effects of the menstrual cycle (2020) · cites this paper as [177]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Mixed-effects modeling with crossed random effects for subjects and items
Baayen, R. H., Davidson, D. J., & Bates, D. M. (2008) · Journal of Memory and Language · doi:10.1016/j.jml.2007.12.005 · Cited by 8,540
Biodiversity on the Rocks: Macrofauna Inhabiting Authigenic Carbonate at Costa Rica Methane Seeps
Levin, L. A., Mendoza, G., Grupe, B., Gonzalez, J. P., Jellison, B. M., Rouse, G. W., Thurber, A. R., & Warén, A. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131080 · Cited by 2,166
Wilcox, A. J., Weinberg, C. R., & Baird, D. D. (1995) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm199512073332301 · Cited by 1,071
The circadian rhythm of body temperature
Refinetti, R., & Menaker, M. (1992) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/0031-9384(92)90188-8 · Cited by 735
Wilcox, A. J. (2000) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7271.1259 · Cited by 452
Evaluation of wireless determination of skin temperature using iButtons
VANMARKENLICHTENBELT, W., DAANEN, H., WOUTERS, L., FRONCZEK, R., RAYMANN, R., SEVERENS, N., & VANSOMEREN, E. (2006) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.04.026 · Cited by 392
The dependence of onset and duration of sleep on the circadian rhythm of rectal temperature
Zulley, J., Wever, R., & Aschoff, J. (1981) · Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology · doi:10.1007/bf00581514 · Cited by 377
Behre, H. M., Kuhlage, J., Gaβner, C., Sonntag, B., Schem, C., Schneider, H. P. G., & Nieschlag, E. (2000) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/15.12.2478 · Cited by 238
Dunson, D. B., Baird, D. D., Wilcox, A. J., & Weinberg, C. R. (1999) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/14.7.1835 · Cited by 235
Circadian rhythm of wrist temperature in normal-living subjects
Sarabia, J. A., Rol, M. A., Mendiola, P., & Madrid, J. A. (2008) · Physiology & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.08.005 · Cited by 222
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 71 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Raith-Paula, 2008, Historische Entwicklung der Natürlichen Familienplanung, 9
- Colombo, 2017, Evaluation of fertility predictors and comparison of different rules, Genus, 54, 153
- Barron, 2005, Basal body temperature assessment: is it useful to couples seeking pregnancy?, MCN Am. J. Matern. Child. Nurs., 30, 290, 10.1097/00005721-200509000-00004 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–109 of 109
Tracking androgens in female elite athletes: menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptive effects
Nolte, J., Voss, S. C., Keiler, A. M., Büthe, E., Legerlotz, K., & Platen, P. (2026) · BMC Women s Health · doi:10.1186/s12905-026-04344-y
Beyond Incremental: Embracing Transformative Innovation in Women’s Health
Evans, M. I., Devoe, L. D., Ryan, G. F., Britt, D. W., & Macedonia, C. R. (2026) · Reproductive Medicine · doi:10.3390/reprodmed7010016 · Cited by 1
Bradbury, K. E., McClung, H. L., Ranadive, S. M., Oppenheimer, A. V., Goldenstein, S. J., Stachenfeld, N. S., Charkoudian, N., & Giersch, G. E. W. (2026) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01189.2025
Szalewska, L., Abdulgater, A., Kossmann, M., Łysiak, J., Osuch-Tomaszewska, P., Urowska, W., Kazubek-Fuksiewicz, I., & Burtowicz, J. (2026) · International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science · doi:10.31435/ijitss.2(50).2026.5460
Shah, A. P., Smolensky, M. H., Haghayegh, S., & Phan, M. T. N. (2026) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.109156
Spatiotemporal feature fusion of multinode radial pulse waves for physiological cycle recognition
Zhang, C., Li, W., Gong, J., Lv, X., Yang, L., Sun, T., & Zhao, Y. (2026) · Pattern Recognition · doi:10.1016/j.patcog.2026.113984
Monsir, A. O., Lawlor, D. A., Gaunt, T. R., & Millard, L. A. C. (2026) · medRxiv · doi:10.64898/2026.07.23.26358666
Wallis, B., Lehto, D. L., Thapa, I., Polis, C. B., & Simmons, R. G. (2026) · Contraception · doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2026.111577
A Scoping Review of Menstrual Cycle Technologies for Ovulation Tracking
Stujenske, T. M., Foreman, R. M., & Nolfi, D. (2026) · CIN Computers Informatics Nursing · doi:10.1097/cin.0000000000001624
Metadata
- Authors
- Shilaih, M., Goodale, B. M., Falco, L., Kübler, F., De Clerck, V., & Leeners, B.
- Affiliations
- University Hospital Zurich (CH)
- Ava AG, Zurich, Switzerland
- Corresponding author
- Leeners, Brigitte
- Venue
- Bioscience Reports
- Publisher
- Portland Press Ltd.
- Published
- 2018-11-30
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 6
- ISSN
- 0144-8463 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-4935
- PMC
- PMC6265623
- OpenAlex
- W2768584306
- Cited by
- 109
- References
- 71
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 6.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Bioscience Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Funders
- Kommission für Technologie und Innovation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Reproductive Health and Technologies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Reproductive Health and Contraception
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Keywords
- fertility awareness, basal body temperature, menstrual cycle, ovulation detection, fertile window, wearable sensors, fertility monitoring, luteal phase, non-invasive temperature measurement
- MeSH terms
- Wearable Electronic Devices, Adult, Body Temperature, Female, Fertility, Humans, Luteinizing Hormone, Menstrual Cycle, Ovulation, Wrist, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
