The Oxford Conception Study - a randomized controlled trial to determine whether daily information about potential fertility from a fertility-monitoring device will increase the conception rate in women wishing to achieve a pregnancy

ISRCTN ISRCTN69465542
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN69465542
Secondary identifying numbers N/A
Submission date
28/10/2005
Registration date
02/03/2006
Last edited
29/08/2018
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Pregnancy and Childbirth
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data
Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Not provided at time of registration

Contact information

Dr Cecilia Pyper
Scientific

Department of Public Health
Old road campus
Oxford
OX3 7LF
United Kingdom

Phone +44 (0)7802 753880
Email cecilia.pyper@dphpc.ox.ac.uk

Study information

Study designThe Oxford Conception Study is a prospective three-arm randomized controlled trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Not specified
Study typeOther
Scientific titleThe Oxford Conception Study - a randomized controlled trial to determine whether daily information about potential fertility from a fertility-monitoring device will increase the conception rate in women wishing to achieve a pregnancy
Study acronymOCS
Study objectivesThe Oxford Conception Study is a three-arm randomized controlled trial investigating whether daily information about potential fertility from a digital fertility-monitoring device will increase the conception rate in women wishing to achieve a pregnancy. A third of women are randomized to receive information about the early fertile time, a third of women are randomized to receive information about the late fertile time and third are a control group who do not receive any information. The women are followed up for six months or until they are pregnant.
The primary outcome is to compare the cumulative three-cycle pregnancy rate between women using a modified fertility monitor when the monitor displays high fertility from the first appearance of Luteinizing hormone (LH) and for the next two days, (i.e. the days that identify the late fertile time) and women using a modified fertility monitor which gives no fertile status.
Ethics approval(s)Ethics approval for the Oxford Conception Study was received in September 2002, reference number CO1.282
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedTime to pregnancy
InterventionThree modified versions of a fertility monitor (supplied by Unipath Ltd. and currently not available in the UK, have been developed for the study so that the daily result for potential fertility will be displayed (or not) according to the experimental design. The monitor allows the woman’s fertility status to be assessed independently. For the purpose of this trial, the fertility monitor is set to request all the women to test their urine on 20 days of the cycle from day 6 to day 25 inclusive. The fertility monitor identifies a woman’s fertile period by measuring via immunochromatography the levels of estrone-3 glucuronide (E3G), a metabolite of estrogen, and LH in urine. A recent independent study has demonstrated that the LH surge accurately predicts the day of ovulation.

The trial has two intervention arms and a control arm. Volunteers are randomized to one of the three arms using computer generated random numbers. The randomization method uses opaque sealed envelopes. The volunteers are randomized into one of three groups; each group receives different information from the fertility monitor:

1. The late fertile time group: monitor shows high fertility from the first appearance of LH and for the next two days. It then shows low fertility until the end of the menstrual cycle
2. The early fertile time group: monitor shows high fertility from the first appearance of E3G and low fertility from the appearance of LH until the end of the menstrual cycle
3. The control group: monitor reveals no information about the fertility status although they still perform urine tests on 20 days of the cycle as requested
Intervention typeDevice
Pharmaceutical study type(s)
PhaseNot Specified
Drug / device / biological / vaccine name(s)
Primary outcome measureThe primary outcome measure is whether the pregnancy rate (assessed in terms of 3-month and 6-month cumulative pregnancy rates) in couples given information about the woman’s potential fertility is higher than those who do not receive the information. The women in the late fertile group (LH day + 2 days) will be compared with women in the control group. The days of intercourse and the monthly conception rates will be compared between those in the late fertile group who receive daily information from the monitors and those who do not.
Secondary outcome measuresSecondary outcome questions include:

1. Whether the pregnancy rate (assessed in terms of 3-month & 6-month cumulative pregnancy rates) in the women in the early fertile group (E3G until LH rise) is higher than that of the pregnancy rate of the women in the control group
2. Whether the pregnancy rate (assessed in terms of 3-month & 6-month cumulative pregnancy rates) in the late fertile group (LH day + 2 days) is higher than that of the women in the early fertile group (E3G until LH rise)
3. Whether information from a fertility-monitoring device helps couples to target sexual intercourse more effectively than no information
4. Whether there is an association between the following variables on conception rates and pregnancy outcome: age of woman, age of partner, Hospital Anxiety And Depression (HAD) score, stress scores, salivary cortisol, salivary amylase, Body Mass Index (BMI) of women, smoking, alcohol, caffeine intake, vitamin supplementation, medication consumption, age of the gametes, intercourse frequency, cycle length variability
Overall study start date01/11/2003
Completion date01/12/2006

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupAdult
Lower age limit18 Years
SexFemale
Target number of participants1,350
Key inclusion criteria1. Women aged 18 to 40 years who are having sexual intercourse with a regular partner
2. Trying to conceive for less than three months
3. Menstrual cycle length of 21 to 35 days for the past three months
4. Willing to record all medication use and sexual intercourse during the study
5. Willing to travel to Oxford for one recruitment session or agree to phone recruitment
6. Willing to be randomized into one of three groups
7. Willing to have a baseline pregnancy test to ensure that they are not pregnant at entry
Key exclusion criteria1. Either partner has a history of infertility or is currently undergoing infertility treatment
2. Either partner is using any form of contraception
3. Woman is breastfeeding
4. Woman has used hormonal contraception during the past three menstrual cycles
5. Woman has used emergency contraception in the past two menstrual cycles
6. Woman has used injectable contraceptive in the past year
Date of first enrolment01/11/2003
Date of final enrolment01/12/2006

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centre

Department of Public Health
Oxford
OX3 7LF
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

Department of Public Health (UK)
Government

University of Oxford
Old road campus
Oxford
OX3 7LF
United Kingdom

Website http://www.dphpc.ox.ac.uk

Funders

Funder type

Government

National Health Service Executive (NHSE) National Career Scientist award

No information available

National Institute for Childhood Health & Disease US

No information available

The DLM Charitable Trust

No information available

Unipath non-commercial funding

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryNot provided at time of registration
Publication and dissemination planNot provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Protocol article protocol 01/11/2006 Yes No

Editorial Notes

29/08/2018: No publications found, verifying study status with principal investigator