Table II.
Attitudes and preferences of participants about frozen embryos, and by high versus low decisional conflict scores (n, %).
| Total (n= 1005*) | DCS > 37.5 (n= 395) | DCS ≤ 37.5 (n= 610) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preferences for embryo disposition | ||||
| Intentions at time of freezing | <0.001 | |||
| Specific plans | 811 (81.3) | 287 (35.4) | 524 (64.6) | |
| Unsure | 186 (18.7) | 107 (57.5) | 79 (42.5) | |
| Current intentions—standard options | ||||
| Store for future attempts | <0.001 | |||
| Very/somewhat unlikely + unsure/do not know | 322 (32.3) | 156 (48.4) | 166 (51.6) | |
| Very/somewhat Likely | 675 (67.7) | 237 (35.1) | 438 (64.9) | |
| Thaw and discard | <0.001 | |||
| Very/somewhat unlikely + unsure/do not know | 725 (75.7) | 253 (34.9) | 472 (65.1) | |
| Very/somewhat likely | 233 (24.3) | 130 (55.8) | 103 (44.2) | |
| Donate to another couple | 0.59 | |||
| Very/somewhat unlikely + unsure/do not know | 750 (77.2) | 297 (39.6) | 453 (60.4) | |
| Very/somewhat likely | 221 (22.8) | 92 (41.6) | 129 (58.4) | |
| Keep frozen forever | <0.001 | |||
| Very/somewhat unlikely + unsure/do not know | 824 (85.4) | 309 (37.5) | 515 (62.5) | |
| Very/somewhat likely | 141 (14.6) | 79 (56.0) | 62 (44.0) | |
| Donate for research | 0.10 | |||
| Very/somewhat unlikely + unsure/do not know | 486 (49.9) | 180 (37.0) | 306 (63.0) | |
| Very/somewhat likely | 488 (50.1) | 206 (42.2) | 282 (57.8) | |
| Would be likely to choose if available | ||||
| Compassionate transfer | <0.001 | |||
| Very/somewhat unlikely + unsure/do not know | 778 (80.4) | 282 (36.2) | 496 (63.8) | |
| Very/somewhat likely | 190 (19.6) | 99 (52.1) | 91 (47.9) | |
| Ceremony for thawing/disposal | <0.001 | |||
| Very/somewhat unlikely + unsure/do not know | 791 (81.9) | 287 (36.3) | 504 (63.7) | |
| Very/somewhat likely | 175 (18.1) | 94 (53.7) | 81 (46.3) | |
| Current thinking about childbearing | <0.001 | |||
| Hope to have a/another baby | 513 (51.2) | 140 (27.3) | 373 (72.7) | |
| Undecided whether or not | 298 (29.8) | 174 (58.4) | 124 (41.6) | |
| Do not want to have a/another baby | 190 (19.0) | 79 (41.6) | 111 (58.4) | |
| Beliefs about moral status | ||||
| Moral status of embryos | <0.001 | |||
| 1 No moral status | 91 (9.5) | 26 (28.6) | 65 (71.4) | |
| 2 | 157 (16.4) | 56 (35.7) | 101 (64.3) | |
| 3 | 117 (12.2) | 51 (43.6) | 66 (56.4) | |
| 4 | 174 (18.1) | 71 (40.8) | 103 (59.2) | |
| 5 | 137 (14.3) | 61 (44.5) | 76 (55.5) | |
| 6 | 111 (11.6) | 65 (58.6) | 46 (41.4) | |
| 7 Maximum moral status | 173 (18.0) | 46 (26.6) | 127 (73.4) | |
| How important is moral status to decision | <0.001 | |||
| Very important factor | 456 (47.2) | 192 (42.1) | 264 (57.9) | |
| Somewhat important factor | 306 (31.7) | 119 (38.9) | 187 (61.1) | |
| Not very important factor | 137 (14.2) | 58 (42.3) | 79 (57.7) | |
| Factor not important at all | 67 (6.9) | 11 (16.4) | 56 (83.6) | |
| Experience of information | ||||
| Content subscalea | <0.001 | |||
| Mean (±SD) | 3.2 (±0.8) | 2.8 (±0.7) | 3.4 (±0.8) | |
| Process subscaleb | <0.001 | |||
| Mean (±SD) | 3.5 (±0.8) | 3.1 (±0.7) | 3.7 (±0.8) | |
DCS, decisional conflict score.
P-values are from t-test and χ2 that examine the difference between groups with high versus low decisional conflict scores for mean (t-test) or distribution (χ2). Where there are more than two levels in attitudinal variables, the P-value from the overall (or omnibus) χ2 is presented.
*Items do not all sum to 1005 because not all respondents answered all questions.
aContent subscale: mean score of seven items asking how informed the respondent felt about information received about embryo cryopreservation, where 1 = least informed and 5 = most informed.
bProcess subscale: mean score of five items asking about how satisfied the respondent was with the informed consent process, where 1 = least satisfied and 5 = most satisfied.