Patients' auto report of regularity of their menstrual cycles. Medical history is very reliable to predict ovulation. A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE Infertility of ovulatory cause can account for a quarter of infertility etiologies and one of the questions in the patients' clinical history is about their self-perception of the regularity of their menstrual cycles. The aim of this study was to assess whether the information on menstrual regularity is consistent with the assessment of the presence or absence of ovulation. METHODS Cross-sectional study. The inclusion criteria were: patients with infertility for at least one year, complete examination and ovulation monitoring, aged between 18 and 38 years completed. The patients were divided into two paired groups: those who reported regular menstrual cycles and those who reported irregular cycles. In the ultrasonographic monitoring of ovulation we separated those who ovulated from those who did not ovulate, and applied the Fischer's test. RESULTS Among the 199 patients who reported having regular menstrual cycles, 113 had proven ovulation upon ultrasound monitoring and 86 patients did not ovulate. Among the 29 patients who reported irregular cycles, 24 did not ovulated at the cycle monitoring. The Fisher's exact test was applied and the p-value found was significant. CONCLUSION The story of the patient in the clinical interview about the presence of regular or irregular menstruation correlates with the presence or absence of ovulation, it should be taken into consideration in the reasoning regarding the infertility etiology. This report would be important to guide the patient's ovulatory regularity diagnosis.