Use of nonmedical treatments by infertility patients

To discover the extent to which infertility patients use alternatives to traditional medical treatment and to identify factors that may promote patients to use them.

Women seeking treatment for infertility at a private office in the Midwest were offered a questionnaire inquiring about their use of nonmedical therapies. Participants were asked about demographic information, types of medical and nonmedical treatments used and the reasons for using them.

Of 133 patients who completed questionnaires, 88 (62.2%) indicated use of alternative therapies. The most common were religious intervention (33.8%), changes in sexual practices (28.6%) and dietary changes (21.8%). Patients using alternative therapies were significantly younger than those who did not (33.2 vs. 35.6, p < 0.01), but there were no significant differences between the groups in 'education, parity or length of infertility. The most common reasons given for using alternative methods were "No harm in trying" (56.8%) and "To supplement traditional therapies" (46%).

Alternative or complementary methods are used by a majority of infertility patients, particularly those who are younger. Patients indicate that such methods complement rather than compete with traditional medical methods.