Ethnography, epidemiology and infertility in Egypt

Soc Sci Med. 1994 Sep;39(5):671-86. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(94)90023-x.

Abstract

Infertility in the developing world has been relatively neglected as an international health problem and a topic of social scientific and epidemiological inquiry. In this study, we examine factors placing poor urban Egyptian men and women at risk of infertility, and we explore the sociocultural and political-economic contexts in which these health-demoting factors are perpetuated. Our approach to the problem of Egyptian infertility attempts an explicit merging of ethnographic and epidemiological research designs, methods of data collection and analysis, and interpretive insights to provide improved understanding of the factors underlying infertility in the urban Egyptian setting.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anthropology, Cultural / methods*
  • Bias
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cultural Characteristics
  • Developing Countries*
  • Egypt / epidemiology
  • Epidemiologic Methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infertility / epidemiology*
  • Infertility / etiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Politics
  • Poverty
  • Research Design*
  • Risk Factors
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Urban Population