Association of physical activity in the past year and immediately after in vitro fertilization on pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the association of physical activity on in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Academic infertility clinic.

Patient(s): Women (n = 121) undergoing nondonor IVF embryo transfer (fresh or frozen).

Intervention(s): The women completed a questionnaire on past year physical activity and wore an accelerometer from embryo transfer to serum pregnancy testing.

Main outcome measure(s): Implantation, intrauterine gestation, and live birth.

Result(s): Based on self-reported past year physical activity, the adjusted odds of intrauterine gestation was higher among those that had higher continuous active living (odds ratio [OR] 1.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-3.50), sports/exercise (OR 1.48, CI 1.02-2.15), and total activity (OR 1.52, 95%CI 1.15-2.01) indices. After embryo transfer, women did almost no vigorous activity (median 0 min/d) as measured by the accelerometer. More of their time was spent in light activity (median 3.0 h/d) and sedentary behaviors (median 9.3 h/d). Accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary behavior after embryo transfer were not associated with any IVF outcome.

Conclusion(s): An active lifestyle in the preceding year favorably impacted the IVF outcome. After embryo transfer, women engaged in mostly light physical activity and sedentary behaviors; therefore, the impact of vigorous physical activity on implantation could not be determined.

Keywords: Accelerometry; conception; implantation; pregnancy; questionnaire; sedentary behavior.