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Analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons
Complementary therapies are often used during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. The aim of this study was to determine how UK fertility clinic websites are advertising complementary therapy add-ons. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) ‘Choose a Fertility Clinic’ website w...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Elsevier
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8184408/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34141907 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rbms.2021.04.001 |
_version_ | 1783704581692194816 |
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author | Stein, Julia Harper, Joyce C. |
author_facet | Stein, Julia Harper, Joyce C. |
author_sort | Stein, Julia |
collection | PubMed |
description | Complementary therapies are often used during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. The aim of this study was to determine how UK fertility clinic websites are advertising complementary therapy add-ons. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) ‘Choose a Fertility Clinic’ website was used to identify fertility clinics and their websites. Acupuncture, reflexology, nutritional advice and miscellaneous complementary therapies were examined to determine treatment provision and costs. Treatment claims for acupuncture and reflexology were analysed using an inductive coding approach, and categorized depending on whether they pertained to holistic benefits, physiological benefits or improvements to IVF treatment outcome. At least one complementary therapy was advertised by 17 of 66 (26%) websites. Acupuncture was the most commonly advertised complementary therapy (16/66 clinic websites, 24%), followed by nutritionist services (11/66, 17%), reflexology (10/66, 15%) and other miscellaneous complementary therapies (9/66, 14%). Treatment costs were found to range from less than £50 for individual appointments to hundreds of pounds for treatment packages. Treatments were not always offered in-house at the fertility clinic, but rather patients were referred to an affiliated practitioner. Analysing claims relating to the complementary therapies highlighted that there were differences in the extent to which clinics claimed that complementary therapies benefited IVF, and that information occasionally acknowledged scientific research evidence but did not always present resources in an unbiased manner. Fertility clinic websites should provide accurate information for patients for complementary therapy add-ons. HFEA should add acupuncture and reflexology to their traffic-light system with amber and red ratings, respectively. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8184408 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-81844082021-06-16 Analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons Stein, Julia Harper, Joyce C. Reprod Biomed Soc Online Original Article Complementary therapies are often used during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. The aim of this study was to determine how UK fertility clinic websites are advertising complementary therapy add-ons. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFEA) ‘Choose a Fertility Clinic’ website was used to identify fertility clinics and their websites. Acupuncture, reflexology, nutritional advice and miscellaneous complementary therapies were examined to determine treatment provision and costs. Treatment claims for acupuncture and reflexology were analysed using an inductive coding approach, and categorized depending on whether they pertained to holistic benefits, physiological benefits or improvements to IVF treatment outcome. At least one complementary therapy was advertised by 17 of 66 (26%) websites. Acupuncture was the most commonly advertised complementary therapy (16/66 clinic websites, 24%), followed by nutritionist services (11/66, 17%), reflexology (10/66, 15%) and other miscellaneous complementary therapies (9/66, 14%). Treatment costs were found to range from less than £50 for individual appointments to hundreds of pounds for treatment packages. Treatments were not always offered in-house at the fertility clinic, but rather patients were referred to an affiliated practitioner. Analysing claims relating to the complementary therapies highlighted that there were differences in the extent to which clinics claimed that complementary therapies benefited IVF, and that information occasionally acknowledged scientific research evidence but did not always present resources in an unbiased manner. Fertility clinic websites should provide accurate information for patients for complementary therapy add-ons. HFEA should add acupuncture and reflexology to their traffic-light system with amber and red ratings, respectively. Elsevier 2021-05-06 /pmc/articles/PMC8184408/ /pubmed/34141907 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rbms.2021.04.001 Text en © 2021 The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Original Article Stein, Julia Harper, Joyce C. Analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons |
title | Analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons |
title_full | Analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons |
title_fullStr | Analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons |
title_full_unstemmed | Analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons |
title_short | Analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons |
title_sort | analysis of fertility clinic marketing of complementary therapy add-ons |
topic | Original Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8184408/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34141907 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rbms.2021.04.001 |
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