Knowledge and Attitude of Infertile People toward Assisted Reproductive Techniques in Hamadan, Iran

Background: People's knowledge and attitude play a role in deciding whether or not to use assisted reproductive procedures (ART). There is no information about people's attitudes and awareness about ART in western Iran. Thus, this study was performed to determine the knowledge and attitude of infertile people toward ART. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 124 infertile participants who referred to the in vitro fertilization section of Fatemieh hospital, Hamadan, Iran. To measure the knowledge and attitude of the participants, 2 researcher-made questionnaires were used. Their validity and reliability were confirmed by content validity (eg, content validity index [CVI]; content validity ratio [CVR] ) and the Cronbach alpha, respectively. Results: The study involved 124 participants, more than half of whom were women (54.8%). The mean of the CVI and the CVR for the attitude questionnaire was 0.76 and 0.79, respectively, and for the knowledge, questionnaire was 0.72 and 0.71, respectively. The Cronbach alpha coefficient obtained for the attitude and knowledge questionnaires was 0.761 and 0.745, respectively. The mean (SD) of the attitude and knowledge of infertile people toward the use of ART was 15.33 ± 2.91 and 9.04 ± 2.92, respectively. The study reported that participants’ age, inhabitation, and job status had a significant effect on their attitude score. Also, the study found that the knowledge score was inversely related to age. The knowledge in those who were unemployed and living in the rural and less than those employed and living in urban areas, respectively. Conclusion: The 2 questionnaires designed in this study (knowledge and attitude) have the required validity and reliability. As a result, it appears that increasing people's knowledge and improving their attitude, particularly among the elderly, is necessary.