OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of couples dropping out of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) waiting list and to describe the couples' reasons. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Fertility center in an academic hospital. PATIENT(S): 674 women placed consecutively on the IVF waiting list between June 2000 and July 2003. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Number of dropouts and reasons for dropping out. RESULT(S): Follow-up information was collected in 2005 and 2008. Of the 674 couples on the waiting list, 87% started IVF, and 13% dropped out before starting their first IVF cycle. Follow-up data were obtained for 85 of 86 patients (98.8%): 37% dropped out because of spontaneous pregnancy, 36% for personal reasons (passive censoring), and 27% for medical reasons (active censoring). Most of the pregnancies occurred within 3 months after the patient had been placed on the waiting list (30 of 32, 94%). Of the 54 censored couples, four became pregnant. CONCLUSION(S): On a 6-month waiting list for IVF, 13% of the couples dropped out before starting treatment. The single most important reason for dropout was (spontaneous) pregnancy. Most of these pregnancies occurred within 3 months, which suggests that psychological factors such as stress relief after being placed on the waiting list might be operative.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of couples dropping out of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) waiting list and to describe the couples' reasons. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Fertility center in an academic hospital. PATIENT(S): 674 women placed consecutively on the IVF waiting list between June 2000 and July 2003. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Number of dropouts and reasons for dropping out. RESULT(S): Follow-up information was collected in 2005 and 2008. Of the 674 couples on the waiting list, 87% started IVF, and 13% dropped out before starting their first IVF cycle. Follow-up data were obtained for 85 of 86 patients (98.8%): 37% dropped out because of spontaneous pregnancy, 36% for personal reasons (passive censoring), and 27% for medical reasons (active censoring). Most of the pregnancies occurred within 3 months after the patient had been placed on the waiting list (30 of 32, 94%). Of the 54 censored couples, four became pregnant. CONCLUSION(S): On a 6-month waiting list for IVF, 13% of the couples dropped out before starting treatment. The single most important reason for dropout was (spontaneous) pregnancy. Most of these pregnancies occurred within 3 months, which suggests that psychological factors such as stress relief after being placed on the waiting list might be operative.
Authors: Elizabeth Holdsworth La; Ruoqing Zhu; Kristen Hassmiller Lich; Alan R Ellis; Marvin S Swartz; Michael R Kosorok; Joseph P Morrissey Journal: Adm Policy Ment Health Date: 2015-05
Authors: Judy E Stern; Daksha Gopal; Hafsatou Diop; Stacey A Missmer; Charles C Coddington; Barbara Luke Journal: J Assist Reprod Genet Date: 2017-06-01 Impact factor: 3.412