Dottie: Your Period Bestie

Mission

To empower adolescent girls with knowledge about their menstrual health through accessible, friendly AI-powered guidance.

Vision

A world where young people understand their bodies, recognize menstrual health as a vital sign, and feel confident seeking care when needed.

What is Dottie?

Dottie is an AI-powered symptom checker designed specifically for adolescent girls and their caregivers to distinguish between normal and abnormal menstruation patterns, delivered through a friendly, approachable digital mascot.

Problem Statement

The Challenge: Adolescent menstrual health faces three critical barriers:

1. Knowledge Gap: Many adolescents and caregivers lack clear understanding of what constitutes normal vs. abnormal menstruation.
2. Communication Barrier: Stigma and embarrassment prevent open discussions about menstrual concerns between adolescents, caregivers, and healthcare providers.
3. Delayed Care: Without understanding normal parameters, abnormal symptoms often go unreported, leading to delayed diagnosis of underlying conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, or thyroid disorders.

Key Statistics:

• Up to 38% of adolescent girls experience menstrual disorders
• The average delay in diagnosis for endometriosis is 7-10 years, often beginning in adolescence
• 75% of young women report receiving inadequate education about menstrual health
• Only 14% of adolescents consult healthcare providers about menstrual concerns

This problem disproportionately affects underserved communities with limited access to specialized healthcare and comprehensive sexual health education.

Solution: Meet Dottie

Dottie is a conversational AI assistant designed as a friendly, knowledgeable "Period Bestie" for adolescents navigating menstrual health.

Core Features:

• Symptom Assessment: Evaluates menstrual patterns against age-appropriate clinical guidelines.
• Personalized Education: Provides developmentally appropriate explanations based on user's age and knowledge level.
• Decision Support: Helps determine when to seek medical attention vs. when patterns are within normal range.
• Conversation Starters: Provides scripts to help teens discuss concerns with parents and healthcare providers.

Unique Approach:

• Character-Based Interface: Dottie's friendly mascot design reduces stigma and anxiety.
• Medically Accurate: Built on ACOG guidelines and reviewed by adolescent gynecologists.
• Privacy-Centered: Age-appropriate design with strong data protection and privacy controls.
• Accessible Language: Uses clear, non-clinical language with optional educational deep-dives.
• Culturally Responsive: Content addresses diverse cultural contexts and beliefs around menstruation.

How Dottie Works

User Journey:

1. Onboarding: Brief questionnaire establishes baseline information about age, menstrual history, and concerns.
2. Assessment: When users report concerns or unusual symptoms, Dottie guides them through a conversational assessment using clinically-validated questions.
3. Personalized Guidance:
   • Green: Reassurance when patterns are within normal range.
   • Red: Clear guidance to seek healthcare when patterns suggest potential issues.
4. Educational Content: Contextual information about menstrual health delivered through engaging, age-appropriate explanations.
5. Healthcare Connection: When needed, helps prepare for healthcare visits with symptom summaries and questions to ask.

User Experience:

The interface balances friendly engagement with medical credibility, using accessible language while maintaining scientific accuracy.

Datasets & Knowledge Base

Medical Foundation:

• ACOG Committee Opinion No. 651 (2015): Core guidelines on normal menstrual parameters.
• Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine clinical recommendations.

Development

Project Structure

• backend: Express.js API server with API endpoints
• frontend: (Coming soon) User interface for the Dottie application

Architecture

Database

Dottie uses a dual-database approach to simplify development while maintaining production readiness:

• Development: SQLite for local development (no setup required)
• Production: Azure SQL Database for scalable cloud deployment
• ORM: Knex.js provides a unified query interface across both database types

This architecture allows developers to work locally without needing to set up a database server, while ensuring a smooth transition to production with Azure SQL.

Backend

• API Server: Express.js handles HTTP requests and routing
• Data Models: Knex.js models for database interaction
• Authentication: (Coming soon) JWT-based authentication
• Middleware: Express middleware for request processing

Getting Started

Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the backend directory:

   cd backend
   

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Initialize the database:

   npm run db:init
   

4. Run the development server:

   npm run dev
   

5. Run tests:

   npm test
   

Technologies Used

• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Database: SQLite (dev), Azure SQL (production)
• ORM: Knex.js for database queries
• Testing: Vitest, Supertest
• Documentation: Docusaurus (see /docs directory)

Contributing

We welcome contributions to the Dottie project! Please see our contributing guidelines for more information.

License

ISC License