TY - JOUR

T1 - The other side of the fertility coin

T2 - a comparison of childless men's and women's knowledge of fertility and assisted reproductive technology

AU - Daniluk, Judith C

AU - Koert, Emily

N1 - Copyright © 2013 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2013/3/1

Y1 - 2013/3/1

N2 - OBJECTIVE: To determine childless men's knowledge about fertility and assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments and family building options, compared to knowledge of a sample of childless women.DESIGN: Self-report questionnaire comprising 2 self-ratings and 20 knowledge questions related to later childbearing and ART.SETTING: Online survey.PATIENT(S): A total of 599 presumed fertile, childless men between the ages of 20 and 50 years.INTERVENTION(S): None.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Knowledge of fertility and ART as measured by the male version of the Fertility Awareness Survey.RESULT(S): The majority of participants rated themselves as having some knowledge or being fairly knowledgeable about fertility and ART. However, on the 20 knowledge questions, overall knowledge was limited, with more than 50% of the sample answering correctly only 4 of 20 knowledge questions. The men demonstrated even less knowledge of fertility and ART than childless women.CONCLUSION(S): Given that the childless men in our study had no coherent body of knowledge regarding age-related fertility and ART treatment and family-building options, men may be contributing to the trend to delay childbearing. If they are to be effective in supporting informed fertility and childbearing decisions, education programs must target both women and men.

AB - OBJECTIVE: To determine childless men's knowledge about fertility and assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments and family building options, compared to knowledge of a sample of childless women.DESIGN: Self-report questionnaire comprising 2 self-ratings and 20 knowledge questions related to later childbearing and ART.SETTING: Online survey.PATIENT(S): A total of 599 presumed fertile, childless men between the ages of 20 and 50 years.INTERVENTION(S): None.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Knowledge of fertility and ART as measured by the male version of the Fertility Awareness Survey.RESULT(S): The majority of participants rated themselves as having some knowledge or being fairly knowledgeable about fertility and ART. However, on the 20 knowledge questions, overall knowledge was limited, with more than 50% of the sample answering correctly only 4 of 20 knowledge questions. The men demonstrated even less knowledge of fertility and ART than childless women.CONCLUSION(S): Given that the childless men in our study had no coherent body of knowledge regarding age-related fertility and ART treatment and family-building options, men may be contributing to the trend to delay childbearing. If they are to be effective in supporting informed fertility and childbearing decisions, education programs must target both women and men.

KW - Adult

KW - Data Collection

KW - Female

KW - Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice

KW - Health Literacy

KW - Humans

KW - Infertility/psychology

KW - Internet

KW - Male

KW - Men's Health

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Reproductive Behavior/psychology

KW - Reproductive Techniques, Assisted/psychology

KW - Spouses/psychology

KW - Women's Health

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.10.033

DO - 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.10.033

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 23148926

VL - 99

SP - 839

EP - 846

JO - Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause

JF - Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause

SN - 1546-2501

IS - 3

ER -