MAPS: Menstrual cycle And Psychotic Symptoms
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mapping Psychotic Symptoms Across the Menstrual Cycle Through Daily Remote Symptom Monitoring
IRAS ID
326035
Contact name
Thomas Reilly
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Psychosis is a severe mental illness which has major costs both to society and to individuals affected. Relapses of psychosis are incredibly disruptive for patients' lives. For female patients with psychosis, the time around menstruation carries a particularly high risk for relapse. To date, studies have compared group differences in symptom ratings at two or three timepoints in the menstrual cycle. However, more fine-grained measures of symptoms, at the level of the individual is needed to account for the wide between-person variability in menstrual cycles and symptom changes.
We will use a smartphone questionnaire platform, ExpiWell, to measure daily symptom changes across the menstrual cycle. ExpiWell is a secure and practical system for participants to measure both the menstrual cycle and symptom changes. Participants will be sent a notification through an app downloaded on their personal device and can then complete daily symptom questions through the app. Women who are either at risk of psychosis or who are experiencing their first episode of psychosis will be asked to complete these measures. For comparison, healthy women will complete the measures as well.
We will analyse whether there is cyclical fluctuations in symptoms, relating to the menstrual cycle. We will compare differences between women who are experiencing psychosis, those at risk of psychosis and those not affected by mental health problems.
It is hoped by understanding how the menstrual cycles affects symptom fluctuations will lead to new treatment targets. At present, all antipsychotic medications work in a similar way and have troublesome side-effects. Medications that stabilise hormonal fluctuations represent a completely different approach that could work for some women.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/LO/0426
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jun 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion