Can we sense ART? The blinded examiner is not blind-a problem with follow-up studies on children born after assisted reproduction

Annika K Ludwig; Alexander Katalinic; Andreas Entenmann; Ute Thyen; Alastair G Sutcliffe; Klaus Diedrich; M Ludwig

doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.01.086

Can we sense ART? The blinded examiner is not blind-a problem with follow-up studies on children born after assisted reproduction

Fertil Steril. 2009 Sep;92(3):950-952. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.01.086. Epub 2009 Feb 26.

Authors

Annika K Ludwig¹, Alexander Katalinic², Andreas Entenmann³, Ute Thyen⁴, Alastair G Sutcliffe⁵, Klaus Diedrich⁶, M Ludwig⁷

Affiliations

¹ Zentrum für Hormon und Stoffwechselerkrankungen, Reproduktionsmedizin und Pränatale Medizin, Endokrinologikum Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: annika.ludwig@endokinologikum.com.
² Institute of Cancer Epidemiology and Institute of Social Medicine, Medical University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
³ Department of Paediatrics, University of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
⁴ Department of Paediatrics, University of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
⁵ Paediatrics and Child Health, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁶ Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, University of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
⁷ Zentrum für Hormon und Stoffwechselerkrankungen, Reproduktionsmedizin und Pränatale Medizin, Endokrinologikum Hamburg, Germany.

PMID: 19249023
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.01.086

Abstract

In a prospective, controlled, blinded follow-up study of children born after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), blinded examiners correctly intuited the mode of conception (ICSI versus spontaneous) in three out of four children, which must be considered when interpreting outcome data for children born after assisted reproduction.

MeSH terms

Case-Control Studies
Child
Child Development
Child, Preschool
Fertilization*
Follow-Up Studies
Health Status
Humans
Prospective Studies
Reproducibility of Results
Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / psychology*
Single-Blind Method
Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic*