Table I.
Overview of studies on the prevalence of use of medically assisted reproduction (binary indicators) by region/country, sorted by year of publication (within countries).
| Study | Data | Type of study, data collection, sampling, response rate (RR) | Year of data collection | Denominator | Numerator | Help-seeking rate |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Lifetime | ||||||
| USA | |||||||
| North America | |||||||
| Wilcox and Mosher (1993) | National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) | Repeated cross section, personal interviews, random sample, RR: NA (n = 8450) | 1988 |
Women 15–44 years with impaired fecundity (inability to have a child, physical difficulty conceiving/delivering a baby, pregnancy danger to women health, tried for ≥12 months) (n = 5.4 million, weighted) |
Any infertility service | NA | 43% |
| Greil and McQuillan (2004) | Own survey | Cross sectional, telephone interview, random sample, RR: 63% (n = 580) | 2002 | Women 25–50 years who ever tried ≥12 months to get pregnant or 1 year of unprotected intercourse (n = 196) | Consulted a doctor about infertility, any pregnancies were result of fertility treatment | NA |
Overall: 39% With intent: 54% Without intent: 14% |
| Bitler and Schmidt (2006) | NSFG | Repeated cross section, personal interviews, random sample, RR: NA (n = 30 149, pooled) | 1982, 1988, 1995, 2002 (pooled) | Women 15–44 years who ever had sex (n = 31 047) |
Ever sought medical help to get pregnant, medical help to prevent miscarriage |
NA | 15% |
| Staniec and Webb (2007) | NSFG | Repeated cross section, personal interviews, random sample, RR: NA (n = 10 847) | 1995 |
Women 22–44 years with unprotected intercourse for ≥12 months or who reported difficulties getting pregnant (n = 1210) |
Ever sought medical help to get pregnant (prevention of miscarriage is excluded) | NA | 31% |
| Anderson et al. (2009) | NSFG | Repeated cross section, personal interviews, random sample, RR: 78% (n = 4928) | 2002 | Men 15–44 years who ever had sex (n = 4109) | Ever sought help to become pregnant | NA | 8% |
| Chandra and Stephen (2010) | NSFG | Repeated cross section, personal interviews, random sample, RR: NA (n = NA) | 1995, 2002 | Women 22–44 years with unprotected intercourse for ≥12 months or impaired fecundity (nonsurgically sterile, or physical problems to get pregnant or carry a pregnancy to term, or 36-month infertility (n = 1091 in 1995; n = 914 in 2002) | Ever sought medical help to get pregnant or to prevent miscarriage | NA |
1995: 45% 2002: 39% |
| Duwe et al. (2010) | National Birth Defects Study (only control group with no birth defects) | Repeated cross sections, telephone interview, random sample from birth registers, RR: 69% (n = 5871) | 1997–2004 | Women in 10 surveillance regions who gave birth to a live infant with no birth defects (n = 5871) | Any medications or any procedures to help become pregnant for the last pregnancy | 4% | NA |
| Hotaling et al. (2012) | NSFG (male sample) | Cross sectional, personal interviews, random sample, RR: 78% (n = 4928) | 2002 | Men aged 30–45 years (n = 2161) | Seen a doctor or other medical care provider to talk about ways to help have a baby | NA | 8% |
| Simonsen et al. (2012) | Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) | Repeated cross section, mixed mode survey, stratified sample of women who gave birth in eight states, RR: 75% (n = 25 358) | 2004–2005 | Women with live births who were trying to conceive (n = NA) | Assistance to become pregnant from a healthcare provider during the month of conception (all eight states) | NA | 11% |
| Chandra et al. (2014) | NSFG | Repeated cross section, personal interviews, random sample, 2006–2010 RR: 77% (n = 22 682) | 1982, 1988, 1995, 2002, 2006–2010 |
Women 25–44 years with current fertility problem (unprotected intercourse for ≥12 months or nonsurgically sterile, or physical problems to get pregnant or carry a pregnancy to term, or 36-month infertility) (1982: n = 32 055; 1995: n = 42 186; 2006–2010: n = 40 912) Men 25–44 years (2002: NA; 2006–2010: n = 40 917) |
Ever used medical help to get pregnant or to prevent miscarriage |
2002: 10% 2006–2010: 9% |
1982: 42% 1995: 46% 2006–2010: 41% |
| Katon et al. (2014) | National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans |
Multi-wave panel, mixed mode survey, random sample, RR: 34% (n = 20 563) |
2009–2011 | Veterans, women (n = 620) and men (n = 2085) who ever experienced ≥12 months of trying to become pregnant without conception | Sought any help to get pregnant while trying to become pregnant | NA |
Women: 43% Men: 39% |
| Sanders et al. (2014) | Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) | Repeated cross section, mixed mode survey, stratified sample of women who gave birth in one state, RR: 81% (n = 9517) | 2004–2008 | Women with live births in Utah who were trying to conceive (n = 5238) | Received fertility treatments | NA | 10% |
| Chin et al. (2015) | Furthering Understanding of Cancer Health and Survivorship in Adult (FUCHSIA) Women’s Study | Repeated cross section, telephone interview, representative survey, RR: NA (n = 1073; comparison women without cancer) | NA | Women who ever experienced 12 (ages 22–34) or 6 (ages 35–45) months of unprotected intercourse without conception (n = 278) | Ever visited a doctor or health professional for help becoming pregnant | NA | 42% |
| Stanford et al. (2016) | Fertility Experience Study, Utah (includes a clinical sample and population sample; only latter reported here) | Cross sectional, mixed mode, random sample, RR: NA (n = NA) | 2010–2012 | Childless women 20–35 and married (2–5 years) with a history of primary infertility who tried ≥12 months to get pregnant at index date (n = 501) | Ever received medical treatment | NA | 59% |
| Farland et al. (2016) | Nurses‘ Health Study II | Prospective cohort study, postal survey, sampling: NA; RR: 92% (n = 116 430) | 1989–2009 | Nurses 25–42 years at initial participation in 1989 who ever experienced 12-month period of trying to become pregnant without success (n = 7422) | Women who reported a cause or the cause was ‘not found’ on a question on the cause of their infertility | NA | 65% |
| Canada | |||||||
| Bushnik et al. (2012) | Canadian Community Health Study (CCHS) | Repeated cross section, RR: 89% (n = 29 858) | 2009/2010 | Couples were the women is 18–44 years who ever tried to become pregnant for >=12 months or had a baby (n = 4297) | Seen a doctor or medical care provider about problems conceiving | NA | 15% |
| Oceania | |||||||
| Australia | |||||||
| Webb and Holman (1992) | Own survey | Random sample of women in Perth, personal interviews, random sample, RR: 90% (n = 1511) | 1988 | Married women 16–44 years who tried >12 moths to become pregnant (n = 47) | Sought medical treatment | 49% | NA |
| Marino et al. (2011) | Own survey | Cross-sectional, personal interviews, cohort study of women born 1973–1975 in a hospital in Adelaide, RR: 49% (n = 974) | 2005 | Women 30–32 years who ever tried to conceive and reported difficulties getting pregnant never became pregnant, based on reproductive history (n = 159) | Ever sought assistance to help getting pregnant | NA | 57% |
| Europe | |||||||
| Denmark | |||||||
| Schmidt et al. (1995) | Own survey | Cross-sectional, postal survey, random sample, RR: 78% (n = 2865) | 1989 | Women 25–44 years who ever attempted to conceive for >12 months without success (n = 418) | Ever sought medical examinations and/or treatment for infertility from a medical doctor or hospital | NA | 47% |
| Finland | |||||||
| Malin et al. (2001) | Own survey | Cross-sectional, postal survey, random sample, RR: 74% (n = 2189) | 1994 | Women 18–44 years who reported that they ever had difficulty becoming pregnant or having a child (n = 344) | Sought medical treatment | NA | 67% |
| Terävä et al. (2008) | FINRISK survey | Cross-sectional, NA, random sample in six regions, RR: 76% (n = 4729) | 2002 | Women 25–64 years who had ever experienced a period of >12 months without conception or conception took >12 months (n = 701) | Ever had medical examination or use of fertility treatments | NA | 57% |
| France | |||||||
| Ducot et al. (1991) | Own Survey | Cross sectional, telephone survey, random sample, RR: 79% (n = 3181) | 1988 | Woman aged 18–49 who ever tried to conceive for 12 months without success (n = 387) | Either partner ever consulted a physician | NA | 62% |
| Thonneau et al. (1991) | Own survey | Cross-sectional, questionnaire, exhaustive survey of practitioners in fertility clinics in three departments | 1988/1989 | Total population of women 19–44 years in France (n = 10 272 213) | Couples ever attending a public or private fertility clinic (projected based on numbers in two departments) | NA | 14% |
| Moreau et al. (2010) | Own survey | Cross sectional, postal questionnaire, two-stage probability sampling, RR: 73% (n = 1616) | 2000 |
Pregnancy attempts of women 18–60 who experienced ≥12 months of unprotected intercourse before a pregnancy leading to a live birth Women with no prior pregnancies (n = 508) Women who had a life birth (n = 827) |
Consulted a physician because of difficulties in becoming pregnant |
45% within 12 months, 75% within 24 months; 15% within 12 months, 22% within 24 months |
NA |
| Germany | |||||||
| Bruckert (1991) | Own survey | Cross sectional, personal interview, random sampling in West Germany and West Berlin, RR: NA (n = 2152) | 1988 | Married women (n = 99) and men (n = 110) with current unfulfilled desire to have a child where the woman was younger than 46 | Seen a doctor or other consultant | Women: 60% Men: 31% | NA |
| Helfferich (2001) | Own survey ‘Frauen leben’ | Cross sectional, telephone interview, random sample in three regions, RR: 44% (n = 1468) | 1998 | Women 20–44 years who ever experienced 12+ months of unprotected intercourse without conception (n = 219) | Specialist help for fertility problem | NA | 44% |
| Helfferich et al. (2004) | Own survey ‘Männer leben’ | Cross sectional, telephone interview, random sample in four regions, RR: NA (n = 1503) | 2001–2004 | Men 25–54 years with limited capacity to father a child or who ever experienced 12+ months of unprotected intercourse without conception (n = 261) | Seeking advice or medical help | NA | 56% |
| Sweden | |||||||
| Wulff et al. (1997) | Own survey | Cross sectional, postal survey, random sample of women living near a smelter or further away, RR: 67% (n = 960) | 1992 | Women 25–44 who ever experienced 12 months of unprotected intercourse without conception (n = 203) | Ever sought medical help to get pregnant | NA | 49% |
| UK | |||||||
| Datta et al. (2016) | National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3) | Repeated cross section, personal interview, random sample, RR: 58% (n = 15 162) | 2010–2012 | Women (n = 923) and men (n = 470) 16–74 years who ever tried to conceive for > 12 months without success | Ever sought medical or professional help about infertility | NA |
Women: 57% Men: 53% |
| Multi-country studies | |||||||
| Olsen et al. (1996) | European Study on Infertility and Subfecundity (ESIS) | Cross-sectional, personal interviews, population-based samples in six countries/regions, Denmark (D): RR 87% (n = 1028), Germany (G): RR 54% (n = 1531), North Italy (NI): RR 74% (n = 1914), South Italy (SI): RR 79% (n = 815), Poland (P): RR 88% (n = 442), Spain (S): RR 70% (n = 900) | 1991–1993 |
Women 25–44 years who ever experienced >12-month infertility (D.: n = NA, G.: n = NA NI: n = NA, SI: n = NA, P.: n = NA, S.: n = NA) |
Ever sought any help because of problems getting pregnant | NA |
All infertile (waiting time >12 months): D.: 51% G.: 43% Italy: 38% P.: 19% S.: 42% Planning pregnancy: D.: 62% G.: 57% I.: 51% P.: 37% S.: 53% |