Subfertility in South Limburg: calculation of incidence and appeal for specialist care
Beurskens, M.P.; Maas, J.W.; Evers, J.L.
Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde 139(5): 235-238
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0028-2162 PMID: 7854486 Document Number: 441939
To estimate the prevalence of subfertility in a region of the Netherlands clearly defined as to medical care. Descriptive. Six regional hospitals and one university medical centre. Prospective registration of all 1060 new patients attending one of the seven hospitals and complaining of subfertility, in 1992. After exclusion of patients living outside the health care region, and/or having pursued pregnancy for less than 12 months, and/or having visited one of the other hospitals (with the same complaint) before, 536 patients remained. For this region, with a population of 641,876 at the time of the study, we estimated the cumulative incidence of subfertility in 1992 to be 10.4% (95% confidence interval: 9.6-11.2%). Between 14 and 16.5% of couples sought specialist medical care for their fertility problem. Between 14 and 16.5% of couples sought specialist medical care for fertility problems during their reproductive life. More than 10 percent fulfilled the criteria for subfertility.