It Is Time We Rethink Our Approach to Enhancing Access to Male Infertility Care
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MALE SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION AND DISORDERS (N THIRUMAVALAVAN, SECTION EDITOR)
It Is Time We Rethink Our Approach to Enhancing Access to Male Infertility Care Blair T. Stocks 1 & Jorge Rivera Mirabal 1 & Kelly Payne 2 & Larry I. Lipshultz 1,3 Accepted: 16 July 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose of Review Approximately half a million men each year facing infertility in the USA are not properly evaluated by a dedicated male infertility specialist. Prior research has examined barriers to male infertility care from epidemiologic, geographic, financial, socioeconomic, and health policy perspectives. This article aims to describe barriers to male infertility care that have traditionally received less consideration and to suggest innovative solutions for enhancing access to care. Recent Findings We explore how the portrayal of male infertility in television shows, movies, and news media shapes the public perception of male infertility. We then define how social networking websites influence awareness and engagement with the concept of male infertility. In addition, potential avenues for collaboration with other medical providers to increase the frequency of male infertility workups are discussed. Finally, we touch on how funding for basic science and clinical research shapes the spectrum of available treatment options and briefly review state-of-the-art research in male infertility. Summary Access to dedicated male infertility care represents an unmet public health need in the USA. Using an atypical lens, the authors’ goal is to provide a brief review of issues surrounding access to male infertility care and to highlight new avenues to enhance access. Keywords Access to care . Traditional media . Social networking/mobile applications . Collaboration with providers . Basic science . Clinical trials
Introduction One in eight couples in the USA struggle with infertility. Male factor infertility is thought to be the cause in 30% of cases, while 20% are due to a combination of male and female factors [1]. Even though 1.2 million females present for a new infertility office visit each year, only 20% of their male partners receive any medical evaluation for infertility [2].
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Male Sexual Dysfunction and Disorders * Larry I. Lipshultz [email protected] 1
Scott Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
2
School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
3
O’Quinn Medical Tower at St. Luke’s, 6624 Fannin Street, Suite 1700, Houston, TX 77030, USA
It is estimated that 370,000–860,000 men are not properly evaluated by a dedicated male infertility specialist in the USA each year [3]. A man’s duration of infertility is negatively correlated with sperm parameters, suggesting that any delay in male treatment may prove detrimental to the couple’s goal of fecundity [4]. Infertility itself serves as an overall barometer for a man’s health, as 1–6% of men presenting to a male infertility clinic hav
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