Abstract
Objective: To investigate the management of subfertility and infertility among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females attending Australian general practice.
Methods: Cross-sectional study of 1,258,581 women (18–49 years) attending general practice between January 2011 and June 2019, utilising data from NPS MedicineWise MedicineInsight, a national general practice database in Australia.
Results: The prevalence of subfertility/infertility encounters was lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females (12.37 per 1,000) than for non-Indigenous females (16.62 per 1,000). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females with a subfertility/infertility encounter were younger and more likely to live outside Major cities and in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage than non-Indigenous females. Rates of prescribed infertility medications were not different between groups, however Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females were more likely to receive a pelvic ultrasound (24.30% vs. 19.90%); tests for luteinizing hormone (31.89% vs. 25.65%); testosterone (14.93% vs. 9.96%) and; glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) (6.32% vs. 3.41%),but less likely to receive an anti-müllerian hormone test (2.78% vs. 7.04%).
Conclusions: Lower encounter rates for infertility/subfertility among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples may indicate access issues, preferred use of Aboriginal community-controlled health centres or younger average age at first birth and thus less age-related infertility.
Implications for public health: Future efforts should focus on maximising the inclusiveness of infertility surveillance. There is also a need for further research into the experiences of and preferences for infertility care and associated barriers among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 410 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | BMC Women's Health |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We would like to thank general practices that enrolled in the MedicineInsight program. We are also grateful for patients who consented to use their de-identified data provided to MedicineInsight.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
