Cyclical women's health needs at work: Low-disclosure support and privacy-preserving self-tracking in age-stratified focus groups in Japan.

Authors

Kiriko Sasayama, Tomoko Saso, Yuko Egawa, Etsuko Nishimura, Erika Ota, Hisateru Tachimori, Ataru Igarashi, Daisuke Yoneoka, Eiko Saito

Published in

Women & health. Pages 1-18. Sep 02, 2026. Epub Sep 02, 2026.

Abstract

Women's labor force participation has increased in Japan, yet workplace support for cyclical, gender-specific health needs remains uneven. This study examined how working women in Japan managed these needs at work and how digital self-tracking might support job-aligned adjustments. Three age-stratified focus groups were conducted in the Kanto region (20-29 years, n = 7; 30-39 years, n = 6; 40-59 years, n = 8; total n = 21) in 2024. Transcripts were analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis. Participants described formal support, including menstrual leave, as often impractical because of stigma, hierarchical norms, and concerns about fairness and workload redistribution, fostering informal coping and after-hours self-management. Menstrual-cycle apps and activity or sleep tracking were valued when outputs were accurate, interpretable, and aligned with bodily sensations; sustained use depended on low burden, peer recommendations, and clear privacy boundaries. Participants preferred concise, user-controlled summaries that could communicate the need for brief scheduling or task adjustments without divulging sensitive personal information. Privacy-preserving self-tracking was perceived as potentially useful when workplaces provided psychologically safe channels and fair procedures for translating summaries into agreed, low-disclosure micro-accommodations. These findings reflect perceived feasibility and potential usefulness rather than demonstrated effects on work functioning, absenteeism, presenteeism, organizational outcomes, or implementation effectiveness.

PMID:
42682156
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 02 Sep 2026.

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