SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS AFFECTING WOMENS ATTITUDES TOWARDS ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Background: To determine the socio-demographic factors affecting women's attitudes toward assisted reproductive technology (ART) in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This questionnaire-based study was conducted between February and May 2018 and targeted females living across all regions of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was designed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, practice and quality of life of women towards ART and consisted of three parts including 35 questions. Pearson Chi-square test was used to compare qualitative differences between variables. Results: A total of 730 women accepted to participate in this survey (response rate, 94.4%). Approximately 94.5% of the respondents had heard about ART. The knowledge, altitude, practice and quality of life scores were good in 99.0%, 90.5%, 55.9% and 48.8%, respectively. Respondents with a longer marriage duration (p = 0.038) or those who felt bad about having ART (p = 0.008) were more likely to believe that ART more frequently fails than succeeds. Conversely, educated women (p = 0.001), those who believed regulations for infertility treatment were lax (p = 0.022), those working in the medical field (p = 0.003), and women who had heard about ART (p = 0.007) were more likely to believe that ART more frequently succeeds than fails. Conclusion: According to our findings, ART is largely acceptable among population included in this study. Socio-demographic factors such as marriage duration, educational level, or profession should be considered when treating couples with infertility problems.