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The Danish National Register of assisted reproductive technology: content and research potentials

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Abstract

The Danish National Register of assisted reproductive technology (ART) was initially established in 1994. The register comprises complete information on all ART procedures in public and private clinics in Denmark from 2013 and onwards, including baseline information on the cause of infertility and a number of health-related patient characteristics. The register enables monitoring and research on infertility treatment and reproductive topics in single women or couples seeking assisted reproduction, and the register is thus a key component of the Danish health information system within human reproduction. We aimed to provide an updated description of the register including advantages and pitfalls when using the register for reproductive epidemiological research, and a description of the accessibility for researchers. The Danish ART register is a valuable tool for epidemiological research. However, the inherent strengths and limitations ought to be in perspective when designing studies and interpreting the study results. Reports with annually aggregated data on ART treatments, can be accessed on the Danish Health Data Authority web page and researchers may obtain access to individual pseudonomized data via secure servers at the Danish Health Data Authority and Statistics Denmark.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Clinical Epidemiology, Odense University Hospital, Kløvervænget 30, Entrance 216, 5000, Odense C, Denmark

    Line Riis Jølving, Bente Mertz Nørgård & Michael Due Larsen

  2. Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Line Riis Jølving, Bente Mertz Nørgård & Jens Fedder

  3. Svendborg, Denmark

    Karin Erb & Jens Fedder

  4. Department D, Center of Andrology and Fertility Clinic, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Jens Fedder

  5. Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Michael Due Larsen

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  1. Line Riis Jølving
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LRJ: idea, obtaining background information and manuscript writing. KE: idea, expert knowledge, obtaining background information and manuscript writing. BMN: idea, obtaining background information and manuscript writing. JF: idea, obtaining background information and manuscript writing. MDL: idea, obtaining background information and manuscript writing.

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Jølving, L.R., Erb, K., Nørgård, B.M. et al. The Danish National Register of assisted reproductive technology: content and research potentials. Eur J Epidemiol 36, 445–452 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-021-00742-8

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