The Development of a Minimum Data Set for an Infertility Registry

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Health Informatics
• Data Standardization

Background:

• Effective healthcare decision-making relies on accessible, reliable data.
• Minimum data sets ensure consistent information collection for decision-makers.
• Standardized data is crucial for building national health registries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a minimum data set for infertility patients in Iran.
• To establish a foundation for a national infertility registry.
• To standardize data collection for infertility treatments.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 2,501 articles and 17 patient forms.
• Extraction of 232 data elements from 10 selected articles.
• Validation of data elements using expert classification and Delphi technique.
• Focus group discussion to assess data element accessibility.

Main Results:

• A total of 146 data elements were selected for the minimum data set.
• The proposed minimum data set provides a basis for standardizing infertility treatments.
• The study identified key data elements for a comprehensive infertility registry.

Conclusions:

• The developed minimum data set can enhance the standardization of infertility care in Iran.
• Implementing this data set will facilitate data sharing and analysis across healthcare providers.
• Standardization is essential for improving the quality and efficiency of infertility services.