title: Do infertile women and their partners have equal experiences with fertility care?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the possible differences between women and their partners' experiences with patient-centered fertility care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two Dutch fertility clinics.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,620 infertile women and their partners, under treatment in one of the participating clinics, were randomly selected to participate in this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  Level of patient-centeredness, measured with the validated Patient-Centeredness Questionnaire-Infertility questionnaire (PCQ-Infertility).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Questionnaires from 696 women and 520 partners were analyzed. No significant difference in PCQ-Infertility total score was found between women and their partners. The partners scored significantly higher on the subscales "respect for patients values" and "staff's competence" compared with the women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients' experiences with fertility care are only slightly different between women and their partners. This can be valuable in the process of improvement of patient-centered fertility care, one of the core dimensions of quality of care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aleida G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Huppelschoten
authors.forename: Noortje T L
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: van Duijnhoven
authors.forename: Peter F J
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: van Bommel
authors.forename: Jan A M
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kremer
authors.forename: Willianne L D M
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Nelen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009426:Netherlands; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012044:Regression Analysis; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards*; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult