The influence of psychological factors on the outcome of the fertilization step of invitrofertilization

Abstract

Our objective was to determine whether psychological factors have an influence on the outcome of the fertilization step of in vitro fertilization (IVF) trials. The design was a prospective cohort study. We studied 48 women and 32 of their spouses. Each subject was assessed psychologically on the day before oocyte retrieval (OR) with the Child Project Questionnaire (CPQ) and the Ways of Coping Checklist. In addition, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was filled in by subjects 2 days before OR, and the State form was completed again for 6 additional days. The outcome measure was the success of the fertilization step. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the influence of psychological factors while taking into account the effect of medical and sociodemographic variables. The following variables were found to be statistically significant predictors of fertilization: normal sperm; tubal lesions or occlusion; women's factor II of the CPQ, i.e. Perception of Marital Harmony in the Project to Conceive a Child. We conclude that, even when the influence of biomedical variables is taken into account, the women's Perception of Marital Harmony in the Project to Conceive a Child, is a statistically significant predictor of the success of the fertilization step of IVF.

The Psychological Impact of Infertility in the Male Able Bodied and Spinal Cord Injured Population

“…In this study compulsion and paranoia are very prominent in all four groups and they are mainly the most important factors in anxiety level in the HI male and their partners. Infertility in addition to the length on infertility was an important factor in causing anxiety in the partners of HI males, which was again consistent with previous reports [13][14][15][16]. Having the knowledge of infertility in the SCI male and their partners and the social support are some of the important factor that make these groups vary in their presentations.…”

“…Psychological problems including anxiety that follow these events have a serious impact on the patients' lives. Although a trauma or an event is essential in developing PTSD but the individuals emotional status, social, familial and cultural believes have an important impact [6,14,15].…”

The Algorithmically Structured Systematic Exploration of Subject's State of Mind: II Reliability and Construct Validity

“…A series of psychological questionnaires was presented and measures from these instruments were correlated with ratings of the Assess_Mind to assess the construct validity of the scales. We presented the Child Project Questionnaire (CPQ), a self-report questionnaire previously developed and validated by our group, that is used to measure specifi c psychological factors that may contribute to the etiology of infertility (Stoléru et al, 1993;Stoléru et al, 1997). The CPQ covers three domains: (i) the wish to have a child, but also anxieties related to the prospect of having a child/becoming a parent; (ii) qualitative and quantitative aspects of sexual life; and (iii) family history related to procreation.…”

“…Two types of score are derived from the CPQ: (i) a priori scores, derived on a conceptual basis by summing items related to the same dimensions; these are the scores of Anxieties Associated with Prospective Parenthood (AAPP), the score of Diffi culties in Family History related to Procreation, and the score of Sexual Diffi culties; (ii) factor scores, derived from factor analysis. Separate factor analyses have been performed for women and men undergoing IVF treatment and have yielded two interpretable factors for women and one for men (Stoléru et al, 1997). In both women and men, Factor I has been interpreted as a measure of the Wish to Have a Child.…”

Stress affects uterine receptivity through an ovarian-independent pathway

“…Some interview-based studies (Vartiainen et al, 1994;Stoleru et al, 1997;Eugster et al, 2004), but not all (Harlow et al, 1996;Milad et al, 1998), have shown that psychological stress results in adverse outcomes of IVF -ET. Furthermore, infertility itself aggravates psychological stress (Campagne, 2006;Cousineau and Domar, 2007).…”