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

= 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.