Authors: Martin Alexander Schaller Georg Griesinger Constanze BanzJansen
Publish Date: 2016/02/16
Volume: 293, Issue: 5, Pages: 1137-1145
Abstract
This was a prospective cohort study set in a university affiliated tertiary care IVF program 119 women and 82 men entering the clinic to undergo IVF treatment filled out questionnaires containing the Spielberger statetraitanxietyinventory STAI as well as further items on specific stress triggersWomen and men undergoing IVF have higher levels of anxiety than the average population in Germany Overall female patients show significantly higher values mean ± SD for state and trait anxiety 474 ± 110 and 401 ± 985 than their male partners 414 ± 966 and 353 ± 857 p 001 Over the course of several IVF cycles average STAI scores increased for both genders When asked about specific stress factors on a 4point scale from ‘not at all’ to ‘very much so’ women report as their main anxiety the failure to achieve a successful pregnancy scoring significantly higher on questions like ‘obtaining a negative pregnancy test’ 324 ± 082 p 001 and ‘disclosure of infertility’ 302 ± 110 p 0001 Their male partners are more concerned about the health risks the women have to take such as ‘side effects of ovarian stimulation’ 255 ± 077 p = 0002 and ‘bleeding or infection after the oocyte aspiration’ 258 ± 084 p = 0007 Both genders indicated to be very little worried about multiple pregnancies after IVFG Griesinger has received consultant/honorarium fees from MSD Ferring Glycotope Serono Finox Vitrolife and IBSA and has served on speaker bureaus for MSD Ferring Serono Vitrolife and IBSA C BanzJansen declares that she has no conflict of interest M A Schaller declares that he has no conflict of interestAll procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors
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