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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Sex Transm Dis. 2019 Jul;46(7):446–451. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000000996

Table 1:

Prevalence of a self-reported lifetime episode of infertility1 among sexually-experienced women aged 18–49 years, by selected characteristics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2013–2016 (N=2,6262)

Characteristic Category Sample size Weighted prevalence3 (%) Weighted prevalence3 (%) 95% CI4 Weighted prevalence ratio3,5 Weighted prevalence ratio3,5 95% CI4

TOTAL 2,626 13.8 12.3–15.3
Age (years) 18–29 960 6.4 4.8–8.0 REF REF
30–39 799 14.8 12.2–17.3 2.3 1.73.2
40–49 867 20.8 17.2–24.4 3.3 2.34.5
Race and Hispanic ethnicity Non-Hispanic white 904 15.4 13.0–17.8 REF REF
Non-Hispanic black 575 12.9 10.3–15.5 0.8 0.7–1.1
Hispanic6 756 10.9 8.7–13.1 0.7 0.51.0
Non-Hispanic Asian 274 10.4 6.7–14.1 0.7 0.5–1.0
Other or Multi-racial 117 11.4 5.3–17.6 0.7 0.4–1.3
Ratio of family income to poverty level7 <1.5 1012 11.3 8.8–13.8 REF REF
1.5–3 618 13.9 10.7–17.1 1.2 0.9–1.7
>=3 820 16.3 13.7–18.8 1.4 1.12.0
Marital status Never married 641 6.1 4.6–7.7 REF REF
Divorced, widowed, separated 331 14.1 8.6–19.5 2.3 1.43.8
Married 1454 17.4 15.0–19.8 2.8 2.13.9
Education < High school 459 9.5 6.4–12.6 0.6 0.40.9
High school graduate/General education diploma 535 12.6 9.6–15.5 0.8 0.6–1.1
Some college/Associate’s degree 926 14.9 12.7–17.1 1.0 0.8–1.3
> College graduate 706 15.0 12.0–18.0 REF REF
Ever had PID8 treatment Yes 122 24.2 16.2–32.2 1.8 1.22.7
No 2485 13.3 11.6–15.0 REF REF
Previous STD9 diagnosis Yes 441 17.1 13.1–21.1 1.3 1.0–1.8
No 2182 13.0 11.2–14.7 REF REF
Told had chlamydia in past 12 months10 Yes 53 17.0 1.0–33.0 1.2 0.5–3.1
No 2568 13.8 12.3–15.2 REF REF
Told had gonorrhea in past 12 months Yes 7 NA NA NA NA
No 2615 NA NA NA NA
Urine Chlamydia NAAT11 result10 Positive 45 7.9 0.4–15.5 0.8 0.3–2.0
Negative 1689 10.4 9.0–11.8 REF REF
Urine Trichomonas NAAT11 result Positive 96 19.9 9.6–30.1 1.5 0.8–2.6
Negative 2494 13.7 12.1–15.4 REF REF
Ever pregnant Yes 1902 16.7 14.6–18.8 2.4 1.73.3
No 522 7.0 5.1–9.0 REF REF
Ever used birth control pills Yes 1804 14.9 13.3–16.6 1.4 1.12.0
No 821 10.3 7.2–13.4 REF REF
1

Prevalence estimates based on response to the question “Have you … ever been to a doctor or other medical provider because you have … been unable to become pregnant?”

2

Variables with missing data include: Ratio of family income to poverty level (n=176); Marital status (n=200); ever had PID treatment (n=19); previous STD diagnosis (n=3); told had chlamydia in past 12 months (n=5); told had gonorrhea in past 12 months (n=4); urine chlamydia NAAT (n=892); urine trichomonas NAAT (n=36); ever pregnant (n=202); ever used birth control (n=1)

3

Estimates were weighted to be nationally representative of the U.S. population, accounting for unequal probabilities of selection and nonresponse

4

CI: Confidence interval

5

Respondents with missing or unknown values were excluded from prevalence ratio calculations

6

Hispanic ethnicity includes Mexican American and other Hispanic ethnicity

7

Poverty level as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services

8

PID: Pelvic inflammatory disease

9

Previous STD (Sexually transmitted disease) includes chlamydia or gonorrhea in the last 12 months or ever being told of a herpes, genital warts, or human papillomavirus diagnosis

10

Relative standard error is > 30% and <50%

11

NAAT: Nucleic acid amplification test