Cork hospital study reveals gaps in people's knowledge around fertility treatments
Research from Cork University Maternity Hospital shows younger people are missing out on timely treatment because they don't seek medical help even when they've been unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant for a year or more.
People have “false confidence” in fertility treatments for older women, with three-quarters overestimating the chances of getting pregnant, research from Cork University Maternity Hospital has revealed.
Younger people are missing out on timely treatment because they don't seek medical help even when they've been unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant for a year or more.
The fertility study has also identified a low understanding of specific health risks for children born to men over the age of 45.
The study involved 302 students from University College Cork and 178 patients at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).
Overall, 75% thought IVF is between 30% and 60% effective and one in five incorrectly believed a woman, aged in her 40s, has at least a 50% chance of getting pregnant using fertility treatment.
Researchers, led by Aoife Booth from CUMH, revealed the reality is that women using their own frozen eggs for treatment have success rates of 18% for live births and 26% for IVF overall.
The study also indicated less than one-in-five people would seek medical help with getting pregnant. They are more likely to talk to friends or family (23.5%) and use the internet, books, magazines (43%).
On male fertility, only 29% knew a man’s age is related to an increased risk of birth defects for his children. Only 28% correctly said children born to men aged over 45 have “higher rates of learning disabilities, autism, schizophrenia and some forms of cancer”.
Less than one of four knew the total cost of one IVF cycle was just under €6,000.
However, 95% correctly believed smoking and drinking alcohol negatively affect fertility. Over 92% believed weight and diet impact fertility.
“There are evident gaps to be addressed,” the study paper found.
The researchers suggested better public messaging around fertility but conceded that there are potential complications. “The obstacle to this is public criticism for placing increasing pressure on young women to have children before they are ready,” the paper states.
When it comes to the challenge of getting pregnant at an older age, just over half of the students incorrectly believed a woman’s health and fitness is a better indicator of fertility than her age. Some 40% of the patients also believed this.
The researchers also found only 40% understood that over-35s should seek help after six months of trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant.
Analysis of the college students’ responses revealed that students from the College of Medicine & Health had “less awareness of male fertility-related factors". Among these students “a higher proportion incorrectly thought that the majority of fertility problems are female related” compared to other students.
However, medical students had a better understanding than their peers that couples may have to go through IVF more than once to conceive.
