title: Patient-centred quality of care in an IVF programme evaluated by men and women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Do men and women value the same aspects of quality of care during IVF treatment when measuring rates of importance by the validated instrument, quality from the patient's perspective of in vitro fertilization (QPP-IVF)?
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women valued most aspects of care as significantly more important than their partner although men and women evaluated the importance of the different care factors in a similar pattern.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  A few validated tools measuring patient-centred quality of care during IVF have been developed. Few studies of gender differences concerning experiences of patient-centred quality of care have been reported in the literature to date.
  
  
  METHODS
  A two-centre study was conducted between September 2011 and May 2012. Heterosexual couples (n = 497) undergoing IVF were invited to complete a questionnaire before receiving the result of the pregnancy test.
  
  
  METHODS
  In all, 363 women and 292 men evaluated quality of care by answering the QPP-IVF questionnaire. The measurements consisted of two kinds of evaluations: the rating of the importance of various aspects of treatment (subjective importance) and the rating of perceived quality of care (perceived reality). Comparisons between men and women on importance ratings and perceived reality ratings were performed both on factor (subscale) and single item levels by intra-couple analyses and corrected for age. A stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was performed in order to select baseline variables independently predicting evaluation at factor level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 67.5%, with 363 women (74.2%) and 292 men (60.6%) completing the study. Both the woman and man responded in 251 couples. Women rated the different care aspects as significantly more important than their partner in all factors except the factor, 'Responsibility/continuity'. Both genders gave the factors, 'Medical care' and 'Information after treatment', the highest scores. At item level women rated the majority of items as significantly more important than men. Perceived reality for the majority of factors and items was similarly rated by men and women in the couples. For women, receiving embryo transfer, short duration of infertility, IVF as a method and number of previous cycles were independently correlated to the highest score of importance of certain factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The lower response rate of men compared with women (60.6 versus 74.2%, respectively) might have influenced the results through selection bias. Only patients who had adequate fluency in the Swedish language participated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is an important contribution in comparing the needs of men and women undergoing IVF treatments. The QPP-IVF instrument is a suitable instrument for revealing important care aspects identified by both men and women and a useful tool for stimulating patient-centred quality improvements within and between clinics.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The study was supported by the LUA/ALF agreement at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden, and by Hjalmar Svensson's Research Foundation. None of the authors declared any conflict of interests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Reproductive Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg SE-413 45, Sweden herborg.holter@vgregion.se.
authors.forename: Herborg
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Holter
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Nursing Sciences, Faculty of Health, Science and Technology, Karlstad University, Karlstad SE 651 88, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ann-Kristin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sandin-Bojö
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Reproductive Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg SE-413 45, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ann-Louise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gejervall
authors.affiliation: Fertility Centre Scandinavia, Box 5418, Gothenburg SE-40229, Sweden.
authors.forename: Matts
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wikland
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Nursing Sciences, Faculty of Health, Science and Technology, Karlstad University, Karlstad SE 651 88, Sweden.
authors.forename: Bodil
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilde-Larsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Reproductive Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg SE-413 45, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bergh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008571:Men / Q000523:psychology*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: IVF; gender differences; measurement instrument; patient-centred care; quality care