Schmidt L, Münster K
Department of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute, Denmark.
Hum Reprod. 1995 Jun;10(6):1407-18. doi: 10.1093/humrep/10.6.1407.
Several new methods of infertility treatment have been developed. There is therefore an increasing interest among physicians in gaining knowledge about the occurrence of infertility in order to estimate the need for treatment. This article examines epidemiological studies in industrialized countries 1970-1992 on the prevalences of infertility, involuntary infecundity, and the seeking of medical advice for infertility. The studies are compared on the basis of study design, definitions, methods of measurement and results. Comparison of the studies is difficult, as researchers use different concepts and there is a large variation in the delineation of the populations involved. The current prevalence of infertility among women in the fertile age group varies from 3.6 to 14.3%, the life-time prevalence varies from 12.5 to 32.6%, the prevalence of involuntary infecundity from 2.6 to 5.9%, and medical contact for infertility from 3.6 to 17%. It is probable that these large differences in prevalences are mainly due to differences in definitions and methods of measurement. We recommend that future studies be carried out in representative population groups, and that only couples who have tried to have children should be included in the estimated prevalences.
已经开发出几种新的不孕症治疗方法。因此，医生们越来越有兴趣了解不孕症的发生率，以便估计治疗需求。本文考察了1970年至1992年工业化国家关于不孕症患病率、非意愿性不孕以及寻求不孕症医疗建议的流行病学研究。根据研究设计、定义、测量方法和结果对这些研究进行了比较。由于研究人员使用不同的概念，且所涉及人群的界定存在很大差异，因此很难对这些研究进行比较。育龄妇女中不孕症的当前患病率在3.6%至14.3%之间，终身患病率在12.5%至32.6%之间，非意愿性不孕的患病率在2.6%至5.9%之间，因不孕症进行医疗接触的比例在3.6%至17%之间。这些患病率的巨大差异很可能主要是由于定义和测量方法的不同。我们建议未来的研究应在具有代表性的人群中进行，并且在估计患病率时应仅纳入那些尝试过生育的夫妇。
