Health state utilities for infertility and subfertility
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Health state utility values allow for comparison of treatments across different diseases. Utility values for fertility-impaired health states are currently unavailable. Such values are necessary in order to determine the relative costs-effectiveness of fertility treatments. METHODS: This study aimed to determine utility weights for infertile and subfertile health states. In addition, it explored the Dutch general population's opinions regarding the inclusion of infertility treatments in the Dutch health insurers' basic benefit package. An online questionnaire was designed to determine the health-related quality of life values of six fertility-impaired health states. The study population consisted of a representative sample of the Dutch adult population. Respondents were asked to evaluate the health states through direct health valuation methods, i.e. the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Time Trade-Off (TTO) method. In addition, respondents were asked about their opinions regarding reimbursement of fertility-related treatments. RESULTS: The respondents' (n = 767) VAS scores ranged from 0.640 to 0.796. TTO utility values ranged from 0.792 to 0.868. Primary infertility and subfertility was valued lower than secondary infertility and subfertility. In total, 92% of the respondents stated that fertility treatments should be fully or partially reimbursed by the health insurance basic benefit package. CONCLUSIONS: Having fertility problems results in substantial disutilities according to the viewpoint of the Dutch general population. The results make it possible to compare the value for money of infertility treatment to that of treatments in other disease areas. There is strong support among the general population for reimbursing fertility treatments through the Dutch basic benefit package.
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Approximately 15% of people worldwide encounter difficulties with conceiving.
“Approximately 15% of people worldwide encounter difficulties with conceiving [38], including those with subfertility (i.e., reduced fertility with an extended period of non‐conception) and infertility (i.e., sporadically occurring spontaneous pregnancies) [39], with a range of pathologies and unexplained causes that warrant their own investigations.”
From Pre‐Pregnancy Diet and/or Physical Activity Interventions for the Prevention of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [38]
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- Authors
- Krol, M., Nap, A., Michels, R., Veraart, C., & Goossens, L.
- Affiliations
- IQVIA (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Rijnstate Hospital (NL)
- Merck KGaA, Darmstadt (Germany) (DE)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Krol, Marieke
- Venue
- Reproductive Health
- Published
- 2019-05-03
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 47-47
- ISSN
- 1742-4755 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6499998
- OpenAlex
- W2943515634
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Reproductive Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePub (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Reproductive Health and Technologies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic and Environmental Valuation
- Keywords
- health utility, infertility, subfertility, infertility treatment, health-related quality of life, time trade-off, visual analogue scale, health insurance reimbursement, cost-effectiveness, Dutch population
- MeSH terms
- Female, Humans, Infertility, Insurance, Health, Male, Netherlands, State Medicine
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