Stress and affordability of assisted reproductive treatments
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Stress and affordability of assisted reproductive treatments: a comparative study of the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
IRAS ID
197700
Contact name
DOC Anumba
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Chief Executive Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Research Summary:
Couples who are subfertile suffer a lot of anxiety from their predicament and from trying to achieve a pregnancy. Treatment of subfertility that involves conception outside the womb and replacement into the womb for the pregnancy to continue (Assisted Reproductive Treatment , ART) can be expensive. Unless funded by the government or a health insurance scheme this may be unaffordable for some couples, causing further anxiety. There is some evidence that anxiety can compromise the wellbeing of subfertile couples and may even make conception more difficult.The purpose of this study, which forms part of a PhD research project, is to determine the contribution of stress and anxiety caused by paying for ART to the overall stress which couples experience when undergoing such treatment. We suspect that women who are self-funded experience more stress and anxiety than those who receive funding from the State. We also suspect that the pattern of stress and anxiety may differ between a sociocultural setting where most of such treatment is funded by the State compared to another where most of the treatment is privately funded and women may struggle to afford such care. Our studies may well assist health care planners and providers better provide services that deal with stress and funding during ART across high and low-income countries.
This study will be carried out in two different countries/settings; where one is low-resource and predominantly self-funded (Nigeria), and the other is high-resource and predominantly funded by the government’s National Health Service (the UK). A total of 200 participants would be recruited from each of the two study locations. The work will a qualitative approach consisting of personal interviews as well as focus group discussions, and a quantitative approach involving the administration of questionnaires to participants and the collection of saliva samples for alpha-amylase analysis. We hypothesise that there would be a link between the level of anxiety participants have (derived from the questionnaire surveys and discussions) and the more objective physiological assessment of salivary alpha-amylase. Our focus group discussions will also shed some light as to whether the affordability of the index treatment affects the expression of stress and anxiety by participants receiving ART. To our knowledge, no study has yet to explore stress level differences associated with the access and funding of assisted reproductive treatment. Our observations may shed light on whether interventions that seek to make ART more affordable may improve the wellbeing of infertile couples as well as improve their pregnancy rates.
Lay summary of study results:
As proposed, we described the Stress and affordability of assisted reproductive treatments, and compared the experience of participants in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/YH/0569
Date of REC Opinion
25 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion