Online psychoeducational support for infertile women: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The study goal was to develop and test the effectiveness of a brief online education and support program for female infertility patients.

Methods: A randomized-controlled trial was conducted. Using a Solomon-four group design, 190 female patients were recruited from three US fertility centers and were randomized into two experimental and two no-treatment control groups.

Development and validation of the Infertility Self-Efficacy scale.

Objective: To develop and validate a scale of perceived self-efficacy for people coping with infertility treatment.

Design: Self-efficacy scale development involved: [1] item generation with medical experts in reproductive health; [2] a principal components analysis with varimax rotation to identify underlying item components; [3] test-retest reliability and construct (convergent and discriminant) validity with infertility patients, who were administered the Infertility Self-Efficacy (ISE) scale with other measures; and [4] expert acceptability, as determined by reproductive health professionals.

Setting: Recruitment at a fertility center, a national infertility organization, and medical trials web pages.

A multimedia psychosocial support program for couples receiving infertility treatment: a feasibility study.

Objective: To develop and test the feasibility of a theory-driven, psychosocial support CD-ROM prototype for couples in infertility treatment.

Design: Focus group meetings with reproductive health experts, semistructured interviews with infertility patients, and content analysis of an infertility message board to determine content domains of the CD-ROM. Usability and acceptance testing of prototype CD-ROM based on predetermined feasibility criteria.

Information seeking and interactive videodisc preparation for third molar extraction.

Patient response to interactive videodisc preparation for third molar extraction surgery was examined as a function of self-reported information-seeking style. Amount learned was compared among patients informed via an interactive videodisc, noninteractive videotape of the same material, or surgeon only. Anxiety levels and satisfaction with preparation were compared between the videodisc and videotape groups.