Impact of Regulation Strategies and Health Education for Managing Infertility in Primary Health Care in Rio Grande do Sul

Introduction: Infertility is defined as a couple's inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected intercourse. In Brazil, it affects around eight million people. While health services provide resources for contraception, little attention is given to supporting conception and preserving fertility.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a remote educational and counseling intervention on infertility.

Method: Open-label randomized clinical trial. Couples referred for infertility will be identified in the electronic referral system. For inclusion, the woman of the couple must be 34 years old or less, no previous in-vitro fertilization attempts, and have access to telephone or internet. The control group will follow standard care, awaiting in-person consultation. The intervention group will also wait for in-person evaluation but receive additional education and counseling via video call.

The primary outcome is the proportion of correct referrals according to local protocols. A total of 206 participants will be included to detect a difference between success rates of 50% and 30%, with 80% power and a 5% significance level.