In recognition of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Awareness Month, Flo, a digital platform for women’s health and wellbeing, has announced the successful launch of PCOS Health Assistant, a self-assessment tool to help identify the risk of PCOS.
PCOS is a hormonal disorder found in women that can cause irregular periods, higher than normal levels of androgen, a male hormone, and enlarged or malfunctioning ovaries. The condition can also lead to infertility, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, and strokes. Despite affecting 1 in 10 women of childbearing age, PCOS is hard to diagnose.
To address this challenge, Flo’s PCOS Health Assistant uses an algorithm to detect whether certain combinations of symptoms self-identified by the user represent a potential risk for PCOS. The algorithm works for users who have consistently logged their period for at least the past 6 months. If PCOS risk is identified from this data, users are engaged by a chatbot that captures additional information about the individual and recommends they speak with their doctor if increased risk is detected. For those users diagnosed with PCOS by a physician, Flo provides ongoing educational information to support management of the condition.
To date, the PCOS Health Assistant has engaged over 250,000 Flo users. Among the 9,000 users who followed up on feedback provided by the tool, 1,500 confirmed a diagnosis of PCOS and 1,400 were diagnosed with other health issues. In surveys, an impressive 83% of Flo users said that they would share their period data with an app in order to see if they have an increased risk for certain medical conditions, like PCOS.
“PCOS is a health issue that is often undiagnosed and misunderstood,” said vice president of product Kamila Staryga. “Irregularities in our cycles are absolutely clinically normal, so learning which deviations are a signal of something that needs to be verified with a doctor is truly empowering… PCOS Health Assistant is the first step in Flo’s digital self-assessment roadmap, with heavy menstrual bleeding and endometriosis coming, to provide women with more knowledge that will allow them to take better control of their health and make informed decisions to improve their quality of life.”
For the month of September, Flo will provide the PCOS Health Assistant on-demand to all Flo users who use its platform in English in the Health Insights section of the app. The Flo period tracker app is currently available on iOS and Android.
Link: Flo homepage…
Via: Flo announcement
