Pervasive stigma and prevalent symptoms related to menstruation are among the key takeaways from a new survey conducted by Myovant Sciences, a healthcare company focused on developing innovative treatments for women’s health and prostate cancer, and Evidation Health, a health and measurement company that helps life sciences companies understand how everyday behavior and health interact.
BASEL, Switzerland and SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pervasive stigma and prevalent symptoms related to menstruation are among the key takeaways from a new survey conducted by Myovant Sciences (NYSE: MYOV), a healthcare company focused on developing innovative treatments for women’s health and prostate cancer, and Evidation Health, a health and measurement company that helps life sciences companies understand how everyday behavior and health interact.
Initial findings include:
- STIGMA IS PERVASIVE AND MENSTRUATION IS INSUFFICIENTLY DISCUSSED:
• Over 60% of female and male respondents believe there is stigma around menstruation in society today.
• About 1 in 5 female respondents do not feel comfortable talking about menstruation with their healthcare provider, and about 1 in 10 male respondents do not feel comfortable talking about menstruation with anyone. - MENSTRUAL SYMPTOMS ARE COMMON AND HAVE AN IMPACT ON DAILY ACTIVITIES:
• About 1 in 4 female respondents report heavy menstrual bleeding (23%) or severe menstrual pain (26%) during their last period.
• Female respondents with heavy menstrual bleeding took fewer steps (5%) and female respondents with severe menstrual pain spent more nights (48%) with less than 4 hours of continuous sleep than those without these symptoms.
• Over 80% of female respondents report experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding or menstrual pain at some point in their lives. - MENSTRUAL CYCLE TRACKING IS COMMON, ESPECIALLY WITH MOBILE APPS:
• Over 75% of female respondents track their menstrual cycles. Of these, 78% use mobile apps. Across all age groups, female respondents use mobile apps as the primary method for tracking.
• The most frequently cited motivations for using mobile apps include predicting the onset of menstruation, tracking menstrual bleeding, and learning more about health.
“It is clear stigma around menstruation is widespread and has real-life consequences,” said Lynn Seely, M.D., President and CEO of Myovant Sciences. “Heavy menstrual bleeding and severe menstrual pain are common and impact daily activities, and yet so many are uncomfortable talking about it. This survey clearly shows the need for elevating the conversation around periods and provides us with new, actionable information as we continue to advocate for change in women’s health.”
Deployed through the Evidation health app, Achievement, which engages with a population of over 3 million people across the U.S., the survey explored the prevalence and impact of common but understudied menstrual symptoms, focusing on heavy menstrual bleeding and menstrual pain. These symptoms can indicate underlying diseases, such as uterine fibroids and endometriosis, that are often left undiagnosed due to normalization and silencing of symptoms.
Over 13,000 females and males elected to share their survey insights in this web-based report. The sample included both female and male respondents from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
“This survey demonstrates how much we can learn through measuring health in everyday life, especially in areas like women’s health where so much remains understudied,” said Christine Lemke, Co-Founder and President of Evidation. “Not only is there a need for more research, but there is also a clear demand. This survey was one of the fastest ever to enroll on Achievement and we received very positive feedback from our users. Innovative collaborations like this one have the potential to create a new paradigm for advancing women’s health.”
PERIOD. Inc. collaborated with Myovant and Evidation to develop the questionnaire to assess education, stigma, and conversations around menstruation.
“I have spent over five years building an organization to fight period poverty and period stigma, but this is the first time we have had detailed, large-scale information on the problem,” said Nadya Okamoto, Founder and Executive Director of PERIOD. “This survey demonstrates that stigma is pervasive, with consequences for people all across the U.S. We are thrilled to work with partners like Myovant and Evidation to better understand the impact of menstrual symptoms and stigma. It is through collaborations like this one that we can advance our shared commitment to menstrual equity.”
About Myovant Sciences
Myovant Sciences aspires to be the leading healthcare company focused on innovative treatments for women’s health and prostate cancer. The company’s lead product candidate is relugolix, a once-daily oral GnRH receptor antagonist. The company has three late-stage clinical programs for relugolix in uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and prostate cancer. The company is also developing MVT-602, an oligopeptide kisspeptin-1 receptor agonist, that has completed a Phase 2a study for the treatment of female infertility as part of assisted reproduction. Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG granted the company an exclusive, worldwide license to develop and commercialize relugolix (excluding Japan and certain other Asian countries) and an exclusive license to develop and commercialize MVT-602 in all countries worldwide. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.myovant.com. Follow @Myovant on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Evidation Health
Evidation Health is a new kind of health and measurement company that provides the world’s most innovative life sciences and health care companies the technology and expertise they need to understand how everyday behavior and health interact. The volume of behavior data generated from smartphones and connected sensors — including wearables and medical devices — has opened up new ways to analyze individuals’ behavior and health in real time, unlocking insights into what medicines and treatments work best and spotting significant changes in health earlier. The scale and utility of everyday behavior data has the potential to be one of the most transformative forces in medicine, and Evidation Health is leading the way.
Over the years, Evidation has built the largest, most diverse virtual pool of research participants through its proprietary and popular app, Achievement. With a direct and trusted relationship with more than 3 million individuals, its deep research expertise, and its data platform, Evidation can undertake real world research for life sciences and health care companies — and, ultimately, transform how health is measured and how diseases are identified, treated, and monitored. Founded in 2012, Evidation Health is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., with additional offices in San Francisco and Santa Barbara, Calif. To learn more, visit evidation.com, or follow us on Twitter @evidation.
About PERIOD. Inc.
PERIOD’s mission is to end period poverty and stigma through service, education, and advocacy. Through a network of over 600 registered chapters in all 50 states PERIOD distributes menstrual products to people in need; educates to change the way people think, talk, and learn about periods; and advocates for systemic change to ensure equitable access to menstrual care. PERIOD was founded in 2014 by Nadya Okamoto and Vincent Forand when they were juniors in high school. Since then, PERIOD has served over 900,000 periods. For more information, please visit www.period.org.
Myovant Media Contact:
Albert Liao
Director, Corporate Communications
Myovant Sciences, Inc.
media@myovant.com
Evidation Media Contact:
Simon Brown
evidation@crosscutstrategies.com
202-792-7200
