Source
Inserm, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unit 822, Epidemiology, Demography, and Social Sciences, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France. caroline.moreau@inserm.fr
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To estimate the probability of medical consultation for infertility during the course of a pregnancy attempt and to study its determinants.
DESIGN:
Pregnancy-based retrospective telephone survey analyzed with a discrete time Cox model.
SETTING:
Two rural counties in Brittany and Normandy, France.
PATIENT(S):
A random sample of 901 women from the general population aged 18-60 years reporting 1,460 pregnancy attempts resulting in a live birth between 1985 and 2000 (participation rate, 73%).
INTERVENTION(S):
None.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):
Probability of medical consultation for involuntary infertility cumulated over time.
RESULT(S):
The cumulative probability of medical consultation for involuntary infertility among nulligravid women was 45% after 12 months of involuntary infertility and 75% after 24 months. The probability of medical consultation at any time was half that for parous women (odds ratio 0.4, 95% confidence interval 0.2-0.6). More highly educated women were more likely to have sought medical help for infertility. Only 45% of women who had sought medical advice received infertility treatment.
CONCLUSION(S):
Our survival approach provides a description of infertility service use during the course of a pregnancy attempt, and confirms that parity and educational level are strong predictors of medical help-seeking behaviors.
Copyright 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.