Abstract

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The purpose of this study was to assess co-morbidity diagnosis and the utilization of assisted reproductive technology services among infertile couples in North Central Zone of Nigeria. To achieve this purpose, one (1) research question and one (1) hypothesis was developed. The ex-post facto research design was used for the study. The population of the study was two million, nine hundred and fifteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty nine (2,915,729) infertile couples in North Central Zone of Nigeria. To obtain adequate data for representation, a sample size of seven hundred and sixty eight (768) respondents comprising of males and females was drawn from the target population representing 4% of the target population. Stratified sampling technique, simple random sampling technique, purposive sampling technique and proportionate sampling technique were adopted to have proper representation of respondents for the study. A validated questionnaire of 4 point modified Likert scale of Strongly Agreed (SA), Agreed (A), Disagreed (D) and Strongly Disagreed (SD) was used as instrument to elicit information from the selected respondents. The questionnaire consisted of Section A and B. Spearman Brown Rank Order (SBRO) and Gutman Split Half method were used to determine the reliability of the instrument. 0.801 and 0.789 reliability coefficient was obtained respectively. A total of seven hundred and sixty eight copies of the questionnaire were randomly distributed among infertile couples in North Central Zone of Nigeria for data collection out of which seven hundred and fifty one (751;97.4%) were duly completed and used for analysis. Descriptive statistics of frequencies and simple percentages were used to describe the demographic characteristics of the respondents. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research question, and an inferential statistics of one sample t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The results revealed that co-morbidity diagnosis significantly determine the utilization of Assisted Reproductive Technology services among infertile couples in North Central Zone of Nigeria (t=52.212; p=0.000). Based on the finding of the study, it was concluded that co-morbidity diagnosis is determinant for the utilization of Assisted Reproductive Technology services among infertile couples in North Central Zone of Nigeria. Based on the conclusion drawn, it was recommended that reproductive health technology experts should initiate collaborative efforts that bring the innovation and development of new treatment procedures to public knowledge, in order to disabuse the minds of people of the assumed notion that infertile couples with malformation infections and other reproductive health concerns such as tubal factor infertility cannot conceive and give birth in their lives. This will go a long way to reduce the burden of infertility treatment on couples seeking ART treatment.

Keywords: Co-morbidity, Diagnosis, Infertile Couples, Utilization, Assisted Reproductive Technology.