Preferences for fertility in women with pelvic inflammatory disease.

OBJECTIVE To identify the value that women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) assign to the health impact of future infertility. DESIGN Cross-sectional observations on patient preferences. SETTING Participants in an existing multicenter clinical trial of PID treatment options. PATIENT(S) Five hundred thirty-two women with signs and symptoms of PID who were identified from emergency departments and sexually transmitted disease clinics. INTERVENTION(S) Women were asked to rate whether life with future infertility was more or less meaningful than life with each of seven chronic health conditions: sinus congestion, insomnia, chronic headache, asthma, incontinence, dialysis, and paralysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Preferences regarding future infertility. RESULT(S) Most respondents rated future infertility as being worse than sinus congestion and asthma but better than the health impact of incontinence, dialysis, and paralysis. There was a wide range of opinion, with 18% viewing future infertility as minor (better than all conditions) and 5% viewing it as extremely important (worse than all conditions). Future infertility ratings were influenced by race, parity, difficulty in conceiving, and views on the importance of future pregnancy. CONCLUSION(S) The majority of women with PID rate future infertility as a significant issue. Optimizing access to infertility treatment may affect the quality of life for such women.