Patient-centred infertility care among Arab women experiencing infertility: a qualitative study

Objective The current study aims to define patient-centred infertility care (PCIC) from the perspective of Arab women with infertility. Design Semistructured in-depth telephone interviews. Setting Hospitals providing infertility care, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Participants Arab women who received infertility treatment during the 6 months preceding the interview at any hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Interviews were conducted with Arab women experiencing infertility from January 2017 to December 2018. A purposive sample of 14 women were included in the final analysis with maximum variation. Results Participants highlighted nine important PCIC dimensions. Of these, four were agreed on by all participants: accessibility, minimising cost, information and education, and staff attitudes and communication. The remaining five dimensions were staff competence, physical comfort, privacy, psychological and emotional support, and continuity and coordination of care. The concept of PCIC was related to three major contributors: participants' demographics, patient experience with infertility care and health-seeking behaviour. Conclusions The current study provided nine PCIC dimensions and items, which can guide efforts to improve the quality of infertility care in Arab countries in two ways: first, by raising infertility care providers' awareness of their patients' needs, and second, by developing a validated tool based on the dimensions for measuring PCIC from Arab patients' perspective. Clear differences between the Arab and the European PCIC model were found. Our findings concluded that women continued to exhibit basic unmet needs.

Automated summary

This study defined nine important dimensions of patient-centred infertility care (PCIC) based on Arab women's perspectives, including accessibility, cost minimization, information and education, staff attitudes and communication, staff competence, physical comfort, privacy, psychological and emotional support, and continuity and coordination of care. The concept of PCIC was influenced by participants' demographics, their experiences with infertility care, and their health-seeking behavior. The study findings suggest a need to improve infertility care in Arab countries by addressing patients' needs and developing validated tools for measuring PCIC. Additionally, differences between the Arab and European PCIC models were identified, with women continuing to have unmet needs.