Creating a Survey Instrument for Self-Assessed Menstrual Cycle Characteristics and Androgen Excess

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common reproductive disorder in women, but tools for self-reported ascertainment are currently lacking. We created and evaluated an online survey instrument for identification of PCOS by incorporating clinically derived reproductive health questions and a novel pictorial tool for androgen excess. The survey was cognitively tested for question comprehension and usability. Comprehension problems included simplifying the PCOS definition and questions on bleeding duration. Recall and answer formation problems included beverage consumption and questions using symbols. Evaluation of this survey instrument via cognitive testing may help to accurately ascertain the prevalence of PCOS in general population settings. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Shruthi Mahalingaiah was supported by the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Womens Health (BIRCWH K12) HD043444. The Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP K12) HD000849. The RSDP 2017 SEED grant the Ellison Family Foundation 2018 Grant and a 2018 SEED grant from the OB/GYN department at Boston Medical Center. This project was part of the work awarded the 2016 Early Investigator award by the Endocrine Society and Merck & Co. ### Author Declarations All relevant ethical guidelines have been followed; any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained and details of the IRB/oversight body are included in the manuscript. Yes All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Harvard Dataverse: Mahalingaiah, Shruthi, 2020, “The Ovulation and Menstruation Study Report on Cognitive Testing of Survey Instrument, July 5, 2017”, , Harvard Dataverse, V1