The effect of psychological distress on IVF outcomes: Reality or speculations?

PLoS One. 2020 Dec 14;15(12):e0242024. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242024. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Introduction: Infertility is a problem that affects millions of people worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of stress, depression and anxiety on the IVF outcomes in Kazakhstan.

Methods: The prospective cohort study was performed using questionnaires to assess psychological distress in 304 infertile female in three different cities in Kazakhstan.

Results: The average age of participants was 33.7 years with infertility duration of 5.9 years. Regarding stress, depression and anxiety we found that more than 80% of all respondents had CES-D score higher than 16, indicating that they are at risk of developing clinical depression. On average, FPI subscales' scores, global stress score and anxiety scale (STAI-S and STAI-T) scores were statistically significantly higher among not pregnant women than pregnant women. Similarly, in simple logistic regression analysis all FPI subscales scores, global stress scale score and anxiety scales' scores were negatively associated with clinical pregnancy.

Conclusion: Rates of stress, anxiety and depression among IVF patients are higher than in general population. If the level of infertility-related stress is higher, IVF success rate is lower. Findings of our study indicate the need for the specific psychological interventions for all infertility women, to improve IVF success rate.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anxiety / complications
  • Anxiety / diagnosis
  • Anxiety / epidemiology*
  • Anxiety / psychology
  • Depression / complications
  • Depression / diagnosis
  • Depression / epidemiology*
  • Depression / psychology
  • Female
  • Fertilization in Vitro / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Infertility, Female / psychology
  • Infertility, Female / therapy*
  • Kazakhstan / epidemiology
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Rate
  • Prospective Studies
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / statistics & numerical data
  • Psychological Distress*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires / statistics & numerical data
  • Treatment Outcome

Grants and funding

The research was supported by the Nazarbayev University Social policy grant awarded for author MT. Ecomed provided support for this study in the form of salary for author SB. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. The funders had no other role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.