21st European Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Antwerp, 5/2010

The 21st European Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology took place in Antwerp, with delegates from across Europe and the rest of the world.

Study design is one of the most important topics in modern medicine — even more so in a rapidly evolving field such as reproductive medicine.

Many of the questions occupying reproductive medicine are shared between patients and clinicians. The couple trying to conceive does not necessarily need to ask the right question: what they want is the truth about the treatment they need, its efficacy and its potential complications.

Choosing the right treatment, both from the medical side and from the patient side, requires sound judgement but above all complete and objective information. That information should, where possible, be based on properly designed studies — because that is what allows the couple to verify it and to be helped in their choices.

Where no data exist that can support clear conclusions, the only available input is the opinion of the treating clinician. In that case the couple must be informed that what is being communicated is the clinician’s personal view and not something universally accepted as undisputed.

The importance of sound study design is therefore evident — both for the advancement of science and for the formation of opinion and the capacity for informed choice on the part of the couple facing infertility.