{"title":"Inequity in Fertility Treatment for Patients that Speak a Language Other than English: A Retrospective Cohort Study.","authors":"Anwyn Pyle, Wan Tinn Teh, Michelle L Giles","doi":"10.1007/s40615-024-02188-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To assess fertility treatment outcomes according to primary language spoken in patients undergoing fertility treatment in an Australian setting.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective cohort study examined female patients who received fertility treatment through a public hospital fertility service between September 2020 and May 2023. The primary outcome was clinical pregnancy rate following embryo transfer for patients who spoke English and patients who primarily spoke a language other than English. Poisson regression was used to estimate the association between language spoken and clinical pregnancy rate. Secondary outcomes included rate of other pregnancy outcomes following embryo transfer, number of fertility treatments performed, embryo quality, IVF cancellation rate, discontinuation rate, and time from first fertility appointment to treatment commencement.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 916 patients who accessed fertility treatment during the study period, 112 patients (12.23%) primarily spoke a language other than English. There were no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate following embryo transfer (IRR 0.92, 95% CI 0.60-1.36), or rates of biochemical pregnancy, miscarriage, or negative pregnancy. However, patients who spoke a language other than English received significantly fewer IVF cycles (1.29 ± 0.61 vs 1.63 ± 1.16 cycles, p = 0.006), greater all-cause IVF cancellation rate (41.33% vs 28.33%, p = 0.048), and longer median time from first appointment to first treatment of any type (341 vs 234.5 days, p < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Inequity in all-cause IVF cancellation rate, mean number of IVF cycles, and duration from first fertility appointment to treatment commencement were observed for patients who spoke a language other than English.</p>","PeriodicalId":16921,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-024-02188-6","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: To assess fertility treatment outcomes according to primary language spoken in patients undergoing fertility treatment in an Australian setting.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study examined female patients who received fertility treatment through a public hospital fertility service between September 2020 and May 2023. The primary outcome was clinical pregnancy rate following embryo transfer for patients who spoke English and patients who primarily spoke a language other than English. Poisson regression was used to estimate the association between language spoken and clinical pregnancy rate. Secondary outcomes included rate of other pregnancy outcomes following embryo transfer, number of fertility treatments performed, embryo quality, IVF cancellation rate, discontinuation rate, and time from first fertility appointment to treatment commencement.
Results: Of the 916 patients who accessed fertility treatment during the study period, 112 patients (12.23%) primarily spoke a language other than English. There were no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate following embryo transfer (IRR 0.92, 95% CI 0.60-1.36), or rates of biochemical pregnancy, miscarriage, or negative pregnancy. However, patients who spoke a language other than English received significantly fewer IVF cycles (1.29 ± 0.61 vs 1.63 ± 1.16 cycles, p = 0.006), greater all-cause IVF cancellation rate (41.33% vs 28.33%, p = 0.048), and longer median time from first appointment to first treatment of any type (341 vs 234.5 days, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Inequity in all-cause IVF cancellation rate, mean number of IVF cycles, and duration from first fertility appointment to treatment commencement were observed for patients who spoke a language other than English.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities reports on the scholarly progress of work to understand, address, and ultimately eliminate health disparities based on race and ethnicity. Efforts to explore underlying causes of health disparities and to describe interventions that have been undertaken to address racial and ethnic health disparities are featured. Promising studies that are ongoing or studies that have longer term data are welcome, as are studies that serve as lessons for best practices in eliminating health disparities. Original research, systematic reviews, and commentaries presenting the state-of-the-art thinking on problems centered on health disparities will be considered for publication. We particularly encourage review articles that generate innovative and testable ideas, and constructive discussions and/or critiques of health disparities.Because the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities receives a large number of submissions, about 30% of submissions to the Journal are sent out for full peer review.