Women’s Health
Trends in self-reported infertility risk factors among fertility mobile app users trying to conceive Katie Noddin* Katie Noddin Eddye Golden Shannon Malloy Leslie Saltzman
Background: Today, up to one in four women trying to conceive experience infertility or impaired fecundity. Factors associated with infertility and impaired fecundity include age, gynecological disorders, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, among others.
Reproductive health mobile apps have grown in number and popularity to support women’s fertility goals. In the U.S., about one-third of women use apps to track their reproductive health. These apps present a unique opportunity to understand infertility risk factors among people trying to conceive (TTC) at a large scale.
Objective: To assess the incidence of self-reported infertility risk factors over time among individuals trying to conceive using a fertility tracking app.
Design: Self-reported infertility risk factors, race, ethnicity, age, and other demographic variables were collected from a sample of 2.6M users from 2017 to 2023 who indicated actively TTC. Trends in self-reported infertility risk factors and demographic information were assessed using multivariate descriptive analyses.
Results: Between 2017 to 2023, the average age of users who were TTC rose by 8.4%. Younger age groups showed an increase in self-reported risk factor incidence over time while older age groups decreased. There was a 14% increase in the proportion of users TTC indicating any risk factor for infertility, leading to 29% reporting at least one risk factor in 2023. PCOS was the most commonly indicated risk factor and increased the most year over year. Conversely, the incidence of users who were TTC with diagnosed infertility decreased by 42% over the 6 years. The sample closely mirrored the U.S. at large in race.
Summary: As infertility rises, understanding changes in risk factors is imperative to designing successful interventions that reduce preventable risk and optimize fertility. This large-scale analysis offers a unique view into the infertility risk factors of fertility app users trying to conceive.