Wainwright Esther, Ali Zoya, Lawrie Lucinda, Getreu Natalie, O'Neill Helen C
Research and Development, Hertility Health Limited, London, UK.
EGA Institute for Women's Health, University College London, London, UK.
Reprod Health. 2025 Aug 22;22(1):152. doi: 10.1186/s12978-025-02079-x.
Fertility rates in the UK are at an all-time low, with infertility affecting approximately 1 in 7 couples. Despite the rising demand for fertility services, fertility awareness, specifically knowledge of ovulation and the fertile window, remains low among women of reproductive age. Most existing studies offer a broad perspective, lacking focus on women actively trying to conceive (TTC). This study aims to assess the level of understanding surrounding the fertile window among women TTC, identifying factors associated with knowledge gaps.
A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of 97,414 women actively TTC who answered an online health assessment was conducted. Participants provided information on menstrual cycle characteristics, previous pregnancies, and fertility knowledge, including the timing of the fertile window. Frequencies, percentages were calculated and chi-squared tests performed to assess differences in categorical data. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) to better understand factors significantly associated with not knowing the fertile window.
Out of the total respondents (97,414), over a third (33,756, 41%) could not accurately identify the fertile window, with substantial misconceptions observed across all age groups and ethnicities. Women with previous pregnancies were more likely to correctly identify the fertile window (OR = 1.45, 97.5% CI: 1.20-1.75, p < 0.001). However, knowledge was significantly lower among those with irregular cycles, non-White ethnicities, younger age groups and longer time TTC. Additionally, misconceptions about cycle regularity were apparent, of 60,322 women describing their cycles as regular 10% did not know their cycle length (66,95) and a further 2.9% fell outside of the clinically regular 21-35 day range. These misconceptions followed a similar trend with younger age groups, non-white ethnicities and longer time TTC having significantly increased rates of misidentifying regular cycles. This further increased the odds of not knowing their fertile window (OR = 2.99, 97.5% CI: 2.83-3.17, p < 0.001).
The findings reveal gaps in fertility awareness among women actively TTC. Addressing these knowledge gaps through targeted educational interventions could potentially reduce time-to-pregnancy and the reliance on assisted reproductive technologies. Improved fertility education focusing on cycle tracking and ovulation timing is essential to assist women with accurate information during their TTC journey.
英国的生育率处于历史最低点，约七分之一的夫妇受不孕问题影响。尽管对生育服务的需求不断增加，但生育意识，特别是排卵和易孕期的知识，在育龄女性中仍然较低。大多数现有研究提供的是宽泛的视角，缺乏对积极尝试受孕（TTC）女性的关注。本研究旨在评估积极TTC女性对易孕期的理解程度，确定与知识差距相关的因素。
对97414名积极TTC并回答了在线健康评估的女性进行回顾性横断面分析。参与者提供了月经周期特征、既往妊娠情况和生育知识的信息，包括易孕期的时间。计算频率、百分比并进行卡方检验以评估分类数据的差异。使用逻辑回归模型计算优势比（OR），以更好地了解与不了解易孕期显著相关的因素。
在总受访者（97414人）中，超过三分之一（33756人，41%）无法准确识别易孕期，在所有年龄组和种族中都存在大量误解。有过既往妊娠的女性更有可能正确识别易孕期（OR = 1.45，97.5% CI：1.20 - 1.75，p < 0.001）。然而，月经周期不规律、非白人种族、年龄较小的群体以及TTC时间较长的女性的知识水平明显较低。此外，对周期规律性的误解很明显，在60322名将自己的周期描述为规律的女性中，10%不知道自己的周期长度（6695人），另有2.9%的周期超出了临床定义的21 - 35天的规律范围。这些误解在年龄较小的群体、非白人种族以及TTC时间较长的人群中呈现出类似的趋势，错误识别规律周期的比例显著增加。这进一步增加了不了解易孕期的几率（OR = 2.99，97.5% CI：2.83 - 3.17，p < 0.001）。
研究结果揭示了积极TTC女性在生育意识方面的差距。通过有针对性的教育干预来解决这些知识差距，可能会减少受孕时间并降低对辅助生殖技术的依赖。专注于周期跟踪和排卵时间的改进生育教育对于在女性TTC过程中为其提供准确信息至关重要。
