Race matters: a systematic review of racial/ethnic disparity in Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology reported outcomes

Abstract

Objective To systematically review the reporting of race/ethnicity in SART Clinic Outcome Reporting System (CORS) publications. Design Systematic review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology of literature published in PUBMED on race/ethnicity that includes data from SART CORS. Setting Systematic review was performed on behalf of the ASRM Health Disparities Special Interest Group. Population IVF cycles reported to SART Exposure Race/ethnicity Main Outcome Measure Any outcomes reported in SART CORS Results Seven publications were identified that assessed racial/ethnic disparities in IVF outcomes using SART data. All reported a racial/ethnic disparity. However, over 35% of cycles were excluded from analysis because of missing race/ethnicity data. Conclusions Review of current publications of SART data suggests significant racial/ethnic disparities in IVF outcomes. However, the potential for selection bias limits confidence in these findings given that fewer than 65% of SART reported cycles include race/ethnicity. Our understanding of how race/ethnicity influences ART outcome could be greatly improved if information on race/ethnicity was available for all reported cycles.

Influence of race and ethnicity on in vitro fertilization outcomes: systematic review

“…Previous reviews examining race/ethnicity and IVF outcomes have lacked systematic methodology (13)(14)(15) or included only data collected at the national level (16). We therefore conducted a systematic review in order to report the clinical pregnancy rates (CPRs) and live birth rates (LBRs) among different racial and ethnic groups, using national and clinic-specific data for nondonor IVF.…”

Ethnicity or environment: effects of migration on ovarian reserve among Bangladeshi women in the United Kingdom

“…Fertility centers routinely assess markers of ovarian reserve in women seeking treatments in an effort to predict who might benefit most from these technologies, although the value of such tests for predicting pregnancy outcome continues to be debated (1,(5)(6)(7). Success using ART in terms of implantation rates, miscarriages, and live pregnancies appear to vary among women from different ethnic groups (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). This variation is frequently described in the clinical literature as "racial" implying a primarily genetic underpinning for this variation (8,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), although the term can also have other sociological meanings.…”

Associations between IVF outcomes and essential trace elements measured in follicular fluid and urine: a pilot study

“…Using multivariable regression approaches, we explored associations between trace elements and IVF outcomes, adjusted for confounders selected a priori based on the literature, including age (years), BMI (kg/m 2 ), race (Bother^/ BAsian^), and current or past cigarette smoking (Bnever^/ Bever^) [25][26][27][28]. Trace element data were natural logtransformed after adding a constant to accommodate negative values and zeros, as were continuous study outcomes to satisfy distributional assumptions and to stabilize variances.…”