title: Public perception on infertility and its treatment: an international survey. The Bertarelli Foundation Scientific Board.
abstract: The first large survey on the public perception of infertility and its treatment was conducted in six European countries, the USA and Australia. A representative sample of 8194 adults was polled, using standard validated methodology. The results obtained highlighted the following major aspects: (i) infertility is perceived as a disease by less than half of the people surveyed (38%), in contrast to the accepted medical opinion; (ii) awareness about the definition and incidence of infertility is relatively low, despite the fact that half of the people polled claimed to know someone affected by infertility; (iii) close to 90% of the adults surveyed knew about in-vitro fertilization (IVF), but less than one-quarter of them knew about the chances of success of this assisted reproductive technology; and (iv) when confronted with the knowledge that the cost of three IVF cycles is roughly equivalent to the cost of a hip replacement (a commonly reimbursed procedure), a large majority (70%) of the individuals interviewed agreed that IVF should be reimbursable.
authors.affiliation: Chemin de Bellevue, Case Postale 13, CH-1270 Trélex, Switzerland.
authors.forename: E Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Adashi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hamberger
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: de Kretser
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lunenfeld
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rosenwaks
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Steirteghem
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011639:Public Opinion; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States