The DUTCH test is supposed to be done around days 19 to 22 of a woman’s cycle. However, what if it’s timed wrong and it’s done three to five days late? Is the test then useless?

Dr. Amy Nett: No, the test isn’t useless. You just are going to have to consider that the test is recommended on that time point largely so that you can use those reference ranges. Because as you go through the course of a woman’s cycle, the relative amounts of estrogens and progesterone metabolites are going to be different, of course. So earlier on in the cycle, higher estrogen, later in the cycle, higher progesterone. So if the test was done at a different time point in the cycle, that’s okay as long as you know when the test was done, and then you can interpret it accordingly using appropriate reference ranges. But no, not useless at all.