Awareness of infertility in men with cystic fibrosis

Communication of information about reproductive and sexual health in cystic fibrosis. Patients, parents and caregivers' experience

“…The study populations were male patients (five papers) [5,8,10,14,15], female patients (one paper) [12], mixed sample of males and females patients (one paper) [6], health care professionals (one paper) [7], mixed sample of parents and female patients (two papers) [9,13] and parents of male patients (one paper) [11].…”

“…Most men with CF seemed aware of both the extent and cause of their infertility [5,6,8,10,15], although they expressed the need for information on reproductive options. Underinforming patients may lead to misconceptions and risky sexual behavior [7,12].…”

“…Yet, when parents informed their sons they preferred to do so at an earlier age than the CF doctor (13.2 years versus 17.2 years) [10,15]. An earlier study from the United Kingdom [8] reported that 56% of boys never received advice on infertility or contraception. These results are unexpected as in other studies the majority of boys had been informed about their infertility.…”

“…Boys generally received information from their parents [5,7,11] and/or a member of the CF team [5,8,10,14]. Those under 16 years were informed more often by their parents, and those over 16 years were informed more often by a health care professional [15].…”

“…Those under 16 years were informed more often by their parents, and those over 16 years were informed more often by a health care professional [15]. Other sources of information were CF friends, CF newsletters/websites, a family planning clinic, friends or written material [8,9,13,14]. Fair et al [6] found that more than half of their patients specifically wanted written information about fertility issues, while less than a quarter remembered receiving any.…”