Study question

Is life stress or IVF procedure-related stress harmful to IVF outcome?

Summary answer

Moderate life stress contribute to enhancement of pregnancy rate, but there was no correlation between pregnancy rate and IVF procedure-related stress.

What is known already

There are many factors that affect the success of in-vitro fertilization, and psychological factors are emerging. There is preliminary evidence to suggest an impact of stress on chances of achieving a pregnancy with IVF, but the lack of a proven research results.

Study design, size, duration

The study included 617 patients who underwent IVF cycles from September 2011 to November 2012.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

A survey was conducted by using questionnaire before starting ART treatment. The strength of life stress and IVF procedure-related stress were expressed each in scale 0 to 10 and high score means more stress.

Main results and the role of chance

The patients were divided into three groups by each stress grades (0-4 : mild, 5-7 : moderate, 8-10 : severe stress). Among total 617 patients, average age was 35.5±4.46, Other demographics (age, infertility causes, IVF protocols, oocyte numbers, etc.) had no differences among groups. There were no statistically correlation between pregnancy rate and IVF procedure-related stress [51.5% (69/134) in grade 0-4, 51.0% (157/308) in grade 5-7, 45.1% (79/175) in grade 8-10, P=0.12]. In analysis of life stress, pregnancy rate was higher in moderate stress group [48.9% (90/184) in grade 0-4, 55.3% (121/219) in grade 5-7 and 43.9% (94/214) in grade 8-10], which showed statistically significance (P=0.007).

Limitations, reasons for caution

A level of stress was described based on patient’s subjectivity.

Wider implications of the findings

Whereas IVF procedure-related stress does not affect pregnancy rate, excessive life stress would have a negative influence. Therefore, we should advise to patients that proper life stress control is important for successful IVF. Also, a detailed explanation about irrelevance between IVF procedure-related stress and pregnancy rate is required in order that patients feel more comfortable during IVF