Perceived infertility is an understudied phenomenon in low‐ and middle‐income countries, where biomedical infertility can have severe consequences, particularly for women. We conducted a nationally representative survey of Ghanaian women, estimated the prevalence of and reasons for perceived infertility, and assessed factors associated with higher levels of perceived infertility using a partial proportional odds model. Among 4,070 women, 13 percent believed they were “very likely” to have difficulty getting pregnant when they wanted to, 21 percent believed this was “somewhat likely,” and 66 percent believed this was “not at all likely.” Reasons for perceived infertility varied by whether the respondent was currently seeking pregnancy. In multivariable analysis, several factors were associated with higher levels of perceived infertility, while unexpectedly, women who reported ever using contraception were less likely to report perceived infertility. Acknowledging the need to address infertility globally and understanding the role of perceived infertility are important components in supporting people's ability to decide whether and when to have children.

中文翻译：

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加纳感知不孕症的患病率和相关性。

在低收入和中等收入国家，感知不孕症是一种未被充分研究的现象，在这些国家，生物医学不孕症可能会产生严重后果，尤其是对女性而言。我们对加纳妇女进行了一项具有全国代表性的调查，估计了不孕不育的患病率和原因，并使用部分比例优势模型评估了与较高水平不孕相关的因素。在 4,070 名女性中，13% 的人认为她们“很可能”在想要怀孕时遇到困难，21% 的人认为“有点可能”，66% 的人认为“完全不可能”。认为不孕的原因因受访者目前是否正在寻求怀孕而异。在多变量分析中，有几个因素与较高水平的不孕不育相关，出乎意料的是，报告曾经使用过避孕措施的女性报告认为不孕的可能性较小。承认需要在全球范围内解决不孕症并了解感知到的不孕症的作用是支持人们决定是否以及何时生育的能力的重要组成部分。