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Has fertility declined from mid-1990s to mid-2000s?
Berit Rostad1, Lone Schmidt, Johanne Sundby
1Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Acta Obstetricia Et Gynecologica Scandinavica
|July 23, 2013
Summary
Fertility declined significantly between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, primarily due to increased subfertility. Lifestyle factors like education and smoking did not fully explain this trend in self-reported fertility.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Health
- Epidemiology
- Sociology of Health
Background:
- Self-reported fertility trends provide insights into population reproductive patterns.
- Understanding changes in fertility is crucial for public health planning and reproductive medicine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate shifts in self-reported fertility among women over a decade, from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s.
- To identify potential contributing factors to observed fertility changes.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective, population-based study utilizing data from two cross-sectional surveys.
- Two cohorts of women aged 50-59 years from a Norwegian county were analyzed (Cohort 1940 and Cohort 1950).
- Data collected via structured questionnaires assessed fertility, infertility (subfertility, involuntary childlessness), and childlessness, along with sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.
Main Results:
- A significant decline in fertility was observed, with prevalence decreasing from 87.8% to 84.2%.
- Infertility increased, driven by a rise in subfertility from 7.8% to 10.6%.
- Increased education, at-risk alcohol consumption, and smoking were associated with lower fertility; however, these factors did not fully account for the overall decline.
Conclusions:
- Fertility rates significantly decreased over the 10-year study period.
- The observed decline in fertility is closely linked to increased rates of subfertility.
- Sociodemographic and lifestyle adjustments did not fully explain the observed decrease in self-reported fertility.
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