Cargando…

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...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Stein, Julia, Harper, Joyce C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
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
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
work_keys_str_mv AT steinjulia analysisoffertilityclinicmarketingofcomplementarytherapyaddons
AT harperjoycec analysisoffertilityclinicmarketingofcomplementarytherapyaddons