Quality of life and pregnancy outcomes among women undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment: A longitudinal cohort study

Meng-Hsing Wu; Pei-Fang Su; Wei-Ying Chu; New Geok Huey; Chih-Wei Lin; Huang-Tz Ou; Chung-Ying Lin

doi:10.1016/j.jfma.2019.06.015

Quality of life and pregnancy outcomes among women undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment: A longitudinal cohort study

J Formos Med Assoc. 2020 Jan;119(1 Pt 3):471-479. doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2019.06.015. Epub 2019 Jul 9.

Authors

Meng-Hsing Wu¹, Pei-Fang Su², Wei-Ying Chu², New Geok Huey³, Chih-Wei Lin³, Huang-Tz Ou⁴, Chung-Ying Lin⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
² Department of Statistics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
⁴ Institute of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Pharmacy, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: huangtz@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
⁵ Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.

PMID: 31300324
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2019.06.015

Abstract

Background/purpose: This study assessed the quality of life (QoL) and pregnancy outcomes among infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment to investigate the association between QoL and IVF pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: This study included 686 women with 1205 embryo transfers (ETs). QoL was measured using the fertility quality of life (FertiQoL) tool before ET. FertiQoL comprises two modules: a Core module (including mind/body, emotional, relational, and social domains) and a Treatment module (covering treatment environment and tolerability domains). The FertiQol total and subscale scores were computed and scored in the range of 0-100 (higher scores indicate better QoL). Multivariate generalized estimating equation analyses were carried out to assess the association between QoL and IVF pregnancy outcomes, with adjustment for time-varying factors across multiple ETs for a given person.

Results: The lowest score in the core module was for the emotional domain (62.0), and that in the Treatment module was for the tolerability domain (59.4). QoL scores were significantly and positively associated with pregnancy outcomes (i.e., ongoing pregnancy, live birth); with a one unit increase in the emotional domain score, the probabilities of ongoing pregnancy and live birth significantly increased by 2.4% and 2.6%, respectively (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: This study evaluated the prospective association between QoL and IVF pregnancy outcomes among infertile women. The results highlight the importance of developing clinical strategies to improve QoL among infertile women undergoing IVF treatment, which may further improve the pregnancy rates of this population.

Keywords: FertiQoL; In vitro fertilization; Pregnancy; Quality of life.

MeSH terms

Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Embryo Transfer / statistics & numerical data*
Female
Fertilization in Vitro
Humans
Infertility, Female / psychology*
Longitudinal Studies
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome*
Quality of Life / psychology*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Taiwan