Knowledge and Attitude Towards Fertility Among Emirati Infertile Patients

Infertility is on the rise worldwide due to multiple reasons. Proper and timely diagnosis makes the treatment easier and more acceptable by the couple. Lack of fertility knowledge however delays necessary investigations and sometimes reduces chances of success as a consequence of a delay in patients / couples approaching infertility clinics. Assessing the fertility knowledge of the Emirati infertility patients would help us to understand better the cultural aspects of fertility, the driving forces for having children and how much patients actually know about predisposing factors for infertility. This in turn would improve counseling and possible set knowledge campaigns to increase awareness.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Infertility, Female; Infertility, Male
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: No intervention

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 400

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Arab Emirates
  • Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 60202
    • Recruiting
    • ART Fertility Clinics
    • Contact: Jonalyn Edades, Nursing; Phone Number: +971526408688; Email: jonalyn.edades@artfertilityclinics.com
  • Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
    • Recruiting
    • ART Fertility Clinics Al Ain
    • Contact: Anastasia Salame, MD; Phone Number: +971 800 337845489; Email: anastasia.salame@artfertilityclinics.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study population is the infertile patients seeking In- Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment in ART fertility clinics in Abu Dhabi

Kindly note that ART is the name of the fertility clinic and not an abbreviation

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• United Arab Emirates nationals coming for their first consultation in ART Fertility Clinics
• Any age group
• males and females

Exclusion Criteria:

- none

Kindly note that ART is the name of the fertility clinic and not an abbreviation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Understanding Knowledge and Attitudes of Emirati Infertility Patients Towards Fertility Issues	A self-built survey was created to cover the different aspects of United Arab Emirates culture. The survey was pilot tested on 9 people not related to the fertility clinic for comprehension and ease of reading. The nature of the questions included would help in understanding the way the local population thinks about fertility in general given that the Emirati society is governed by certain religious and social norms and expectations. The data that will be collected by the end of this study will aid in creating certain guidelines easing the approach to infertile patients as well raising fertility awareness campaigns to encourage patients seek fertility specialist opinion early on that could potentially improve the success rates of fertility treatments.	1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: ART Fertility Clinics LLC

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Haynes, D. (2016). ScholarWorks Delaying First Pregnancies: Canadian Women' s Knowledge and Perception of the Consequences. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations
• Cramer DW, Walker AM, Schiff I. Statistical methods in evaluating the outcome of infertility therapy. Fertil Steril. 1979 Jul;32(1):80-6.
• Richardson SJ, Senikas V, Nelson JF. Follicular depletion during the menopausal transition: evidence for accelerated loss and ultimate exhaustion. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1987 Dec;65(6):1231-7. doi: 10.1210/jcem-65-6-1231.
• Blair I, Sharif AA. Population structure and the burden of disease in the United Arab Emirates. J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2012 Jun;2(2):61-71. doi: 10.1016/j.jegh.2012.04.002. Epub 2012 May 22.
• Melado L, Vitorino R, Coughlan C, Bixio LD, Arnanz A, Elkhatib I, De Munck N, Fatemi HM, Lawrenz B. Ethnic and Sociocultural Differences in Ovarian Reserve: Age-Specific Anti-Mullerian Hormone Values and Antral Follicle Count for Women of the Arabian Peninsula. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021 Oct 21;12:735116. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.735116. eCollection 2021.
• Green KE, Smith DE. Change and continuity: childbirth and parenting across three generations of women in the United Arab Emirates. Child Care Health Dev. 2007 May;33(3):266-74. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00667.x.
• Rangel EL, Castillo-Angeles M, Easter SR, Atkinson RB, Gosain A, Hu YY, Cooper Z, Dey T, Kim E. Incidence of Infertility and Pregnancy Complications in US Female Surgeons. JAMA Surg. 2021 Oct 1;156(10):905-915. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2021.3301. Erratum In: JAMA Surg. 2021 Oct 1;156(10):991. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2021.4450.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 6, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 7, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): February 9, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 31, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 30, 2024
• Last Verified: February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: surveys and questionnaires
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Urogenital Diseases; Male Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases, Male; Genital Diseases; Genital Diseases, Female; Infertility; Infertility, Female; Infertility, Male
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2308-ABU-016-AS

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No