My main
area of interest in pharmacy is regarding fertility treatments and high risk OB
management. The original idea of this blog was to focus on evaluating the
credibility of fertility resources online. Today, I am going to do a section on
that. See the links at the end of this post to go to the websites.
For
background, it is important to know the patient population that is looking for
fertility resources online. Patients are usually very well educated and
determined. There is a low incidence of non-compliance to medication in this
population because of the motivation to achieve the end goal. Patients have
usually done extensive research and read several books before they even come to
their doctor for advice. They have also heard all the old wives’ tales from
family and friends on how to improve their chances of fertility.
The
internet is a common first start for information. However, not all information
found on the internet is credible. There are lots of personal posts or popular
websites that post information, but the site might not be as credible as other
sources. It is important to scan a source for credibility before even reading
the information they put out. This post will be evaluating the more credible
sources for general fertility treatment information.
To
start, I just conducted a google search for “infertility.” The first resources
that come up are Mayo Clinic and WebMD, which are reasonably credible sources
of information. Late on the first page, I was very happy to see
uihealthcare.org/infertility, which is The University of Iowa Hospitals and
Clinics page describing their services, their success rates, and other
information for couples looking into fertility treatment. UIHC has a great
fertility clinic that provides IVF, ICSI, egg donation, and much more.
ConceiveOnline
was an interesting find. This is a page with articles regarding social topics
of fertility, which seems to be relatively accurate. It is written on a very
generic level to appeal to all audiences. The focus on social issues, such as
time off work and handling a family’s reaction, are good topics for people
approaching fertility treatment. However, upon further inspection, it is run by
Bonnier Corporation, which runs magazines on special interests, most regarding
outdoor activities and travel. They do have a parenting magazine, but their
main focus is not on fertility. I might recommend this site for social issues,
but I wouldn’t take anything for fact when it comes to discussing medications
or treatments. The descriptions are oversimplified.
The
CDC’s website has a section on reproductive health with infertility FAQ’s. I
love the CDC’s website for everything, and I appreciate that they have a
section on reproductive health. This would definitely be a place I send my
patients to find true, accurate, credible information to answer their
questions.
MedlinePlus
is the last search result I will go over. MedlinePlus is similar to MayoClinic
or WebMD, but the information is much more complete. Most patients undergoing
fertility treatments are very educated about their condition and what lies in
front of them. Mayo’s site and WebMD might be too concise for this population.
MedlinePlus would be a good resource to find more information that is still
written in a way they can read and understand.
Alexis Ireland, PharmD Candidate 2014
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