PMID- 37943304 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20240108 LR - 20240108 IS - 1460-2350 (Electronic) IS - 0268-1161 (Linking) VI - 39 IP - 1 DP - 2024 Jan 5 TI - Gender inequality and utilization of ART: an international cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. PG - 209-218 LID - 10.1093/humrep/dead225 [doi] AB - STUDY QUESTION: What is the association between a country's level of gender equality and access to ART, as measured through ART utilization? SUMMARY ANSWER: ART utilization is associated with a country's level of gender equality even after controlling for the level of development. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Although gender equality is recognized as an important determinant of population health, its association with fertility care, a highly gendered condition, has not been explored. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: A longitudinal cross-national analysis of ART utilization in 69 countries during 2002-2014 was carried out. PARTICPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: The Gender Inequality Index (GII), Human Development Index (HDI), and their component indicators were modelled against ART utilization using univariate regression models as well as mixed-effects regression methods (adjusted for country, time, and economic/human development) with multiple imputation to account for missing data. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: ART utilization is associated with the GII. In an HDI-adjusted analysis, a one standard deviation decrease in the GII (towards greater equality) is associated with a 59% increase in ART utilization. Gross national income per capita, the maternal mortality ratio, and female parliamentary representation were the index components most predictive of ART utilization. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Only ART was used rather than all infertility treatments (including less costly and non-invasive treatments such as ovulation induction). This was a country-level analysis and the results cannot be generalized to smaller groups. Not all modelled variables were available for each country across 2002-2014. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Access to fertility care is central to women's sexual and reproductive health, to women's rights, and to human rights. As gender equality improves, so does access to ART. This relation is likely to be reinforcing and bi-directional, with progress towards global, equitable access to fertility care also improving women's status and participation in societies. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): External funding was not provided for this study. G.D.A. declares consulting fees from Labcorp and CooperSurgical. G.D.A. is the founder and CEO of Advanced Reproductive Care, Inc., as well as the Chair of the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART) and the World Endometriosis Research Foundation, both of which are unpaid roles. G.M.C. is an ICMART Board Representative, which is an unpaid role, and no payments are received from ICMART to UNSW, Sydney, or to G.M.C. to undertake this study. O.F., S.D., F.Z.-H., and E.K. report no conflicts of interest. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: N/A. CI - (c) The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com. FAU - Fitzgerald, Oisin AU - Fitzgerald O AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-9554-8869 AD - National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, Centre for Big Data Research in Health and School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. FAU - Dyer, Silke AU - Dyer S AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3338-4189 AD - Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Groote Schuur Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. AD - International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Vancouver, BC, Canada. FAU - Zegers-Hochschild, Fernando AU - Zegers-Hochschild F AD - International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Vancouver, BC, Canada. AD - Clinica las Condes and Program of Ethics and Public Policies in Human Reproduction, School of Medicine, University Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. FAU - Keller, Elena AU - Keller E AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-4790-482X AD - National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, Centre for Big Data Research in Health and School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. FAU - Adamson, G David AU - Adamson GD AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5387-7629 AD - International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Vancouver, BC, Canada. AD - Equal3 Fertility, Cupertino, CA, USA. FAU - Chambers, Georgina M AU - Chambers GM AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0215-3249 AD - National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, Centre for Big Data Research in Health and School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. AD - International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Vancouver, BC, Canada. LA - eng PT - Journal Article PL - England TA - Hum Reprod JT - Human reproduction (Oxford, England) JID - 8701199 SB - IM MH - Female MH - Humans MH - *Gender Equity MH - Cross-Sectional Studies MH - *Reproductive Techniques, Assisted MH - Fertility MH - Ovulation Induction OTO - NOTNLM OT - assisted reproduction OT - gender inequality OT - human development OT - infertility OT - international comparison EDAT- 2023/11/09 12:42 MHDA- 2024/01/08 06:42 CRDT- 2023/11/09 11:05 PHST- 2023/05/02 00:00 [received] PHST- 2023/10/11 00:00 [revised] PHST- 2024/01/08 06:42 [medline] PHST- 2023/11/09 12:42 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/11/09 11:05 [entrez] AID - 7376727 [pii] AID - 10.1093/humrep/dead225 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Hum Reprod. 2024 Jan 5;39(1):209-218. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dead225.