Use Of Internet In Infertility Patients

Abstract

Objective: To determine the use of the Internet by Infertility patients for obtaining health care information. Study Design: Questionnaire study involving 106 Infertility patients Results: Ninety-eight completed and returned the questionnaire (response rate � 92%). Majority was in the age group of 31-35 years. Sixty-eight patients had primary infertility and thirty had secondary infertility. Ninety-three women had used computers and eighty-nine had accessed Internet. Fifty-eight patients used Internet to search for infertility issues (59%). Internet use was more common in patients with higher education levels (41.37%) and who were professionals (48.27%) These women had suffered infertility for about a year longer than the other group and also had longer treatment duration. Patients accessed the fertility sites to get general information about infertility, to find about treatment modalities, seek support and clinic selection. 89% patients favored our idea of developing an Internet web site for our Unit. Conclusion: The use of the Internet is increasing with more than 50% of the infertility patients using the Internet for health information. This raises important issues regarding the need for peer review and has significant impact upon doctor-patient relationship. Infertility specialists should keep themselves well updated with medical information on the web sites.