Faculty Collaboration Database

Physician perceptions and practice patterns regarding fertility preservation in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients. Bone Marrow Transplant 2013 Aug;48(8):1091-7

Date

02/20/2013

Pubmed ID

23419436

Pubmed Central ID

PMC3914209

DOI

10.1038/bmt.2013.13

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84881370660 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   53 Citations

Abstract

Physician practice variation may be a barrier to informing hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients about fertility preservation (FP) options. We surveyed HCT physicians in the United States to evaluate FP knowledge, practices, perceptions and barriers. Of the 1035 physicians invited, 185 completed a 29-item web-survey. Most respondents demonstrated knowledge of FP issues and discussed and felt comfortable discussing FP. However, only 55% referred patients to an infertility specialist. Most did not provide educational materials to patients and only 35% felt that available materials were relevant for HCT. Notable barriers to discussing FP included perception that patients were too ill to delay transplant (63%), patients were already infertile from prior therapy (92%) and time constraints (41%). Pediatric HCT physicians and physicians with access to an infertility specialist were more likely to discuss FP and to discuss FP even when prognosis was poor. On analyses that considered physician demographics, knowledge and perceptions as predictors of referral for FP, access to an infertility specialist and belief that patients were interested in FP were observed to be significant. We highlight variation in HCT physician perceptions and practices regarding FP. Physicians are generally interested in discussing fertility issues with their patients but lack educational materials.

Author List

Loren AW, Brazauskas R, Chow EJ, Gilleece M, Halter J, Jacobsohn DA, Joshi S, Pidala J, Quinn GP, Wang Z, Apperley JF, Burns LJ, Hale GA, Hayes-Lattin BM, Kamble R, Lazarus H, McCarthy PL, Reddy V, Warwick AB, Bolwell BJ, Duncan C, Socie G, Sorror ML, Wingard JR, Majhail NS

Author

Ruta Brazauskas PhD Associate Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Data Collection
Female
Fertility Preservation
Health Care Surveys
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Humans
Infertility
Male
Middle Aged
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States