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New study questions evidence supporting benefits of fertility treatments
The practical benefits of a wide range of fertility treatments offered by UK clinics have been called into question by a new study.
Oxford University researchers set out to record claims about the benefits of treatments offered on top of standard in vitro fertilisation by UK fertility centre websites, before assessing the evidence used to support these claims, for an investigation by the BBC One show Panorama.
A total of 276 claims of benefits relating to 41 different fertility interventions – including blood tests and egg freezing packages – were made by 60 of the 74 centres included in the analysis.
Of these, 29 percent provided numbers to explain the chances of improved fertility outcomes, but only 13 websites also included any references, which referred to just 16 published sources. Moreover, only five of these were deemed to be high-level systematic review evidence.
As such, it was concluded that the majority of the websites provided no sources for the claims they made.
Research leader Professor Carl Heneghan at Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine said: "There is a need for more information on interventions to be made available by fertility centres to support well-informed treatment decisions."
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