CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- At-home infertility tests for women are not foolproof because of the cutout levels of the hormone used, U.S. researchers say.
Dr. Anne Z. Steiner of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine says these infertility tests may label many women as infertile who actually go on to have children naturally.
The study found one-quarter of the women had abnormal follicle stimulating hormone levels -- considered infertile via the test but did not have more difficulty getting pregnant after six months.
Steiner, the lead author, says the research suggests another hormone -- antimullerian hormone -- could prove to be a much better indicator of infertility.
"That is not to say that these tests are useless, but they certainly warrant further investigation," Steiner says in a statement. "Our findings may mean that we need to go back to the drawing board and change the potential cutoff for infertility in the current tests, or perhaps we need to explore other tests altogether."
The study found one-quarter of the women had abnormal follicle stimulating hormone levels -- considered infertile via the test, did not have more difficulty getting pregnant after six months.
However, when the researchers raised the level of this hormone, an association with infertility was found, Steiner says.
"So it may be that this test can pinpoint infertility, but we need to uniquely define where that cutoff is going to be," Steiner says.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Denver.
