Female Reproductive Health in Canadian Armed Forces (BEARH2025)

May 19, 2026 updated by: Mélanie Morin, Université de Sherbrooke

Female Reproductive Health in Canadian Armed Forces: Experience, Access to Care, and Support

This is a mixed-method study aimed at gathering new evidence on reproductive health among female service members in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Reproductive health includes four primary domains: contraception; undesired reproductive outcomes (including unintended pregnancy, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and infertility); assisted reproductive care; and pelvic floor dysfunctions. Additional factors that may influence reproductive outcomes will also be explored, including gynecological health (including but not limited to menstrual health, menopause, breast injury, sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections) as well as physical and psychological health (including but not limited to repetitive strain injuries, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder). Evidence gathered on reproductive health issues will include, but not limited to, the lived experiences (occurrence), associated risk factors, access to care, including barriers and facilitators, service utilization, and career-related impacts among actively serving members and Veterans of the CAF. These will inform the development of recommendations and support services aimed at improving reproductive health care within the CAF. This project is divided into 3 convergent parts:

Part 1: An online pan-Canadian survey that will achieve a minimum total sample of 1067 participants.

Part 2: Semi-structured individual interviews (open-ended questions) will be conducted with female CAF members and Veterans who have experienced at least one reproductive health issues. A total of 30 participants are estimated to be required to achieve data saturation across the four primary domains.

Part 3: Semi-structured group discussion (open-ended questions) will be conducted with healthcare providers, who have experience with treating female reproductive health issues in CAF members, as well as stakeholders and policymakers involved in supporting female members of the CAF/Veterans. A total of 24 healthcare providers/stakeholders/policymakers will form 3 group discussion (8 participants/group).

For all 3 parts, efforts in recruitment will be made to ensure representation across CAF elements, minority groups, and native language (French and English).

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

1121

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Quebec
      • Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, J1H 5N4
        • Recruiting
        • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Mélanie Morin, PhD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All female individuals serving in the CAF and Veterans will be included in part 1. Part 2 will include female individuals having experienced a reproductive health issue while serving in the CAF. Part 3 will include clinicians, stakeholders and policymakers who care for or support reproductive health of female CAF members (active duty and Veterans).

Description

Inclusion Criteria (part 1):

  • Female (biological sex)
  • Aged at least 18 years old
  • Completed Basic Military Qualification (including Regular Forces, Reserve Forces (Class A, B, or C), Canadian Rangers, COATS instructors, and survivors of the LGBT Purge whose official records of service have been changed to reflect the nature of their discharge)

Inclusion Criteria (part 2):

  • Female (biological sex)
  • Aged at least 18 years old
  • Completed Basic Military Qualification (including Regular Forces, Reserve Forces (Class A, B, or C), Canadian Rangers, COATS instructors, and survivors of the LGBT Purge whose official records of service have been changed to reflect the nature of their discharge)
  • Have experienced a reproductive health issue while serving in the CAF

Inclusion Criteria (part 3):

  • Healthcare providers (CAF Health Services, public servant, civilian) who has treated female patients who are actively serving and/or Veterans of the CAF in the past 5 years.
  • Stakeholders who are involved in supporting reproductive health of female members of the CAF and/or Veterans.
  • Policymakers who are involved in supporting reproductive health of female members of the CAF and/or Veterans.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Occurrence of female reproductive health issues
Time Frame: Baseline
Assessed using a self-administered, pan-Canadian online questionnaire with multiple-choice response options
Baseline
Lived experiences of female reproductive health issues
Time Frame: Baseline
Assessed using semi-structured individual interviews with open-ended questions
Baseline
Risk factors of reproductive health issues
Time Frame: Baseline
Assessed using a self-administered, pan-Canadian online questionnaire with multiple-choice response options and semi-structured individual interviews with open-ended questions
Baseline
Barriers to access to care for reproductive health issues
Time Frame: Baseline
Assessed using a self-administered, pan-Canadian online questionnaire with multiple-choice response options and semi-structured individual interviews with open-ended questions and group discussion (open-ended questions) with healthcare providers, stakeholders and policymakers
Baseline
Facilitators to access to care for reproductive health issues
Time Frame: Baseline
Assessed using a self-administered, pan-Canadian online questionnaire with multiple-choice response options and semi-structured individual interviews with open-ended questions and group discussion (open-ended questions) with healthcare providers, stakeholders and policymakers
Baseline
Service utilization for reproductive health issues
Time Frame: Baseline
Assessed using a self-administered, pan-Canadian online questionnaire with multiple-choice response options and semi-structured individual interviews with open-ended questions and group discussion (open-ended questions) with healthcare providers, stakeholders and policymakers
Baseline
Career-related impact of reproductive health issues of female serving in the CAF
Time Frame: Baseline
Assessed using a self-administered, pan-Canadian online questionnaire with multiple-choice response options and semi-structured individual interviews with open-ended questions
Baseline
Recommendations and support services for improving female reproductive care within the CAF
Time Frame: Baseline
Assessed using a self-administered, pan-Canadian online questionnaire with multiple-choice response options and semi-structured individual interviews with open-ended questions and group discussion (open-ended questions) with healthcare providers, stakeholders and policymakers
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Université de Sherbrooke

Collaborators

Veterans Affairs Canada
Canadian Armed Forces

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Mélanie Morin, PhD, PT, PhD, Full professor, Researcher, Director of the Pelvic Health Research Laboratory, Canada Research Chair in Women's pelvic health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sherbrooke and Research Centre of the CHUS

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 19, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 15, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 8, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 19, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2026-6177

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Due to the nature of the participant population (active-duty military personnel and Veterans) and confidential information, individual data will not be shared. Only deanonymized and aggregated data will be shared with the scientific population and/or other organizations, upon request.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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