ŌURA Releases First-Ever Perimenopause Report Using Smart Ring Data

Smart ring maker deepens its commitment to supporting women during perimenopause through product updates, innovative partnerships, and educational resources

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ŌURA, maker of the most trusted smart ring, today released its first-ever Perimenopause Report in honor of Menopause Awareness Month. For the report, a team of research scientists at ŌURA looked at aggregate, de-identified data from more than 100,000 female Oura Members in the early perimenopause, late perimenopause, and early postmenopause age ranges for one year to identify the physiological changes that occur in the years before, during, and after menopause. The findings shed light on the range of physical and mental changes that women go through during this transition and provide insight into the impact this stage has on sleep, mood, energy levels, cardiovascular health, and more.

“The transition to perimenopause and menopause has been shrouded in silence, stigma, and misunderstanding for far too long, leaving many women unsure of when it happens, what to expect, or how to manage the changes they are experiencing,” said Dorothy Kilroy, chief commercial officer at ŌURA. “Symptoms from perimenopause and menopause are real and pervasive, despite the fact that 44% of women feel they are not taken seriously by healthcare professionals. This report illuminates the reality of these symptoms, helping to redefine the narrative around perimenopause and allowing women, and those around them, to better understand this life stage and support their health journeys."

Empowering Women Through Data

All women who live long enough go through perimenopause, a journey that, for most, takes about four years but can range from just a few months to as long as 14 years. During this period, women experience profound hormonal changes, resulting in changes in their physical, mental, and emotional health that can drastically impact all aspects of their daily lives.

Some women may be able to reduce the impact of these symptoms through lifestyle changes, such as physical activity or meditation and mindfulness practices. Others may find symptom relief with hormonal interventions. Regardless of their course of action, in order to address their symptoms, they must first recognize the signs of perimenopause and, in many cases, consult a medical professional. Yet only 28% of women report knowing what to expect in their menopause experience.

To help women identify some of these signs, the new Perimenopause Report from ŌURA includes multiple data points, such as symptoms captured by self-reported tags, sleep data, activity data, and cardiorespiratory data. The data show that the transition to menopause is associated with a cascade of psychophysiological symptoms, affecting not only women's daily lives but also their overall health and wellness.

Key findings include:

• Lack of restorative sleep impairs daily functioning. Data show a progressive loss in sleep that results in up to two hours of lost sleep each week as women transition from perimenopause to postmenopause. More than half of women experience hot flashes and night sweats that can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes, and up to 69 percent of hot flashes are associated with waking up during the night.
• Perimenopause affects both physical and mental health. Oura Members in the late perimenopausal age range are 33 percent more likely to tag anger, 28 percent more likely to tag sadness, 44 percent more likely to tag migraine, and 51 percent more likely to tag acne than premenopausal women.
• Cardiovascular risk factors increase. Heart rate variability, an important marker of cardiovascular health, declines 20 to 30 percent in early and late perimenopausal women.

"It's impossible to predict what each woman's experience will be as they go through perimenopause, which is why data from wearables is extremely powerful," said Kilroy. "Some may have more symptoms than others, and those symptoms may be more mild or severe. Just knowing what those signs and symptoms are—and how they're affecting your personal well-being—can be extremely validating for those who are experiencing them. Our goal at Oura is to thread that needle so women can identify their symptoms and then work with their providers to find the solutions that best meet their needs."

Perimenopause Enhancements to Oura Tagging Platform

As part of its ongoing commitment to helping women navigate their perimenopause journey, ŌURA introduced 17 new tags specific to perimenopause and menopause to its tagging platform to help members make the connection between various symptoms and how they show up in their data. The list of tags is based on a comprehensive review of research studies examining symptoms most often linked to changes during perimenopause. These include irritability, hot flash, mood swings, crying, difficulty concentrating, spotting, and more.

Members who use these tags will also see them represented in their Cycle Insights Report, a shareable, six-month report of Cycle Insights data. The report includes cycle length, period length, temperature variation, cycle phases, and symptom tags, and is designed to support women in conversations with their healthcare providers as they work together to develop plans to manage symptoms, such as lifestyle changes or hormone replacement therapy.

In Partnership: Improving Access to Innovative Care Solutions

To further support women during this transition, ŌURA is partnering with a variety of like-minded brands and experts in the women's health space to help members better understand their bodies and offer discounted access to the solutions best suited to their individual needs. Among these partners are at-home hormone testing platforms Mira and Proov. Both Mira and Proov can help track hormones across the menstrual cycle and complement ŌURA insights, improving each individual's understanding of their hormone fluctuations and how this can be impacted by perimenopause.

For those interested in in-depth cycle tracking, ŌURA maintains an ongoing partnership with Clue, which recently introduced Clue Perimenopause mode and launched a new research study in collaboration with ŌURA and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, to gain a deeper insight into the physiological changes that occur during perimenopause.

New this month, ŌURA is kicking off partnerships with Hertility and sanoLiving to bridge the gap between patients and providers and offer members access to in-house clinicians and partner clinics. Through these partnerships, Oura Members can connect with experts who specialize in perimenopause and menopause to receive tailored guidance and access appropriate treatments for managing symptoms. Hertility also offers at-home diagnostic testing with clinical grade results for advanced insights into the onset of menopause and provides access to other in-house specialist care, such as fertility counseling services.

Learn more about the Perimenopause Report and partnership benefits for Oura Members here.

About ŌURA:

ŌURA delivers personalized health data, insights, and daily guidance with Oura Ring, the leading smart ring that helps you live healthier, longer. Guided by a mission of changing the healthcare paradigm from sick care to preventative health, ŌURA makes wellness and recovery a daily practice through sleep, activity, readiness, stress, resilience, women’s health, and heart health. Millions of Oura Members around the world use Oura Ring as a personalized health companion that meets them where they are.

ŌURA is building the most scientifically validated wearable; the lightweight and comfortable Oura Ring is validated against medical gold standards and driven by continuous monitoring of 50+ individual health and wellness biometrics and insights. Thousands of teams, research organizations, and concierge medical practices manage the health of their populations with ŌURA, and its ecosystem includes 800+ partners across women’s health, metabolic health, fitness, behavioral health, and more. ŌURA was founded in 2013 in Finland and has offices in Oulu, Helsinki, San Francisco, and San Diego. For more information, please visit http://ouraring.com/ and connect with ŌURA on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

Oura Ring is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, monitor, or prevent medical conditions/illnesses.