Original articleKnowledge about factors that influence fertility among Australians of reproductive age: a population-based survey
Section snippets
Materials and methods
The study was approved by the Research and Ethics Committee of the State Government of Victoria's Department of Human Services.
Results
A total of 18,910 telephone calls were attempted. The proportion that could not be reached (answering machine, engaged, no answer, incoming call restrictions, disconnected number, or not a residential number); where the respondent was not eligible; or where the respondent had insufficient English language to complete the interview was 68.9%, 15.6%, and 2.1%, respectively. Of the 2,535 eligible respondents, 2,073 refused to participate, and 462 (18.2%) completed the interview. The three most
Discussion
This study of a representative sample of Australians of reproductive age identified considerable knowledge gaps about potentially modifiable factors that influence fertility. The results add to existing evidence about lack of fertility awareness among university students 2, 4, 48, subfertile and pregnant women (24), childless women (23), and reproductive-aged women (22). Public education targeting these knowledge gaps could potentially reduce the risk of involuntary childlessness and people
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2022, Reproductive Biomedicine and Society OnlineCitation Excerpt :Comparing the educational attainment in the present sample with other data suggests that the present data captured the educational structure of German non-migrants rather well (OECD, 2019). On the other hand, in an international comparison, the majority population respondents were not more knowledgeable than those in other countries [Garcia et al. (2018) and Hammarberg et al. (2013) for a sample of the general population in Australia; Vassard et al. (2016) for Denmark and the UK). Here, the issue of comparability may play a role.
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K.H. has nothing to disclose. T.S. has nothing to disclose. R.J.N. has received payment for lectures from Merck Serono. C.A.H. has received reimbursement from VARTA for participating in Your Fertility and payment from Pfizer for development of educational presentations. J.M. has nothing to disclose. L.J. has received funding for travel and administrative support from her employer, the Victorian Department of Health, payment from universities for development of educational presentations, and is a member of the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia.
Supported by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Population Health Programs Branch, Family Planning Grants Program.