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Alcohol and cannabis use among women with infertility: associations with psychiatric symptoms, attempts to conceive, and engagement in fertility treatment

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Abstract

Little is known about substance use among women with infertility, yet substance use has implications for fertility and pregnancy. The purpose was to estimate the prevalence of substance use among women with infertility and examine whether substance use was associated with psychiatric symptoms, active attempts to conceive, and engagement in fertility treatments. Eligible patients were from a single healthcare system who received a female infertility diagnosis within the past 2 years. Participants (n = 188) completed an online questionnaire regarding substance use, psychiatric symptoms, attempts to conceive, and fertility treatments. The prevalence of hazardous alcohol use, any cannabis use, and hazardous cannabis use were 30.3%, 30.9%, and 8.5%, respectively. Hazardous alcohol use was not associated with psychiatric symptoms (p > .05). Those with any cannabis use were more likely to have higher depression scores than those without (p = .02). Those with hazardous cannabis use were more likely to have higher depression scores (p = .001) and higher anxiety scores (p = .03). Substance use was not associated with actively trying to conceive. Those pursuing fertility treatments had a lower percentage engaging in hazardous alcohol use compared to those not pursuing fertility treatments (19.0% vs. 36.3%, p = .02). Substance use among women with infertility is common. Hazardous cannabis use was associated with greater psychiatric symptoms, suggesting that cannabis may be used to cope with distress. Pursuing fertility treatments may serve as a protective factor for hazardous alcohol use. Clinicians treating patients with infertility may want to screen for substance use.

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Data Availability

Data may be provided upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This project was supported by the Fund for Henry Ford Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henry Ford Health, Behavioral Health, 1 Ford Place, 5E, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA

    Lisa R. Miller-Matero, Lana Abdole & Kaitlyn M. Vagnini

  2. Henry Ford Health, Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Detroit, MI, USA

    Lisa R. Miller-Matero, Amy M. Loree, Alyssa Vanderziel, Kaitlyn M. Vagnini & Leah M. Hecht

  3. Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Genevieve Joseph-Mofford

Authors
  1. Lisa R. Miller-Matero
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  2. Genevieve Joseph-Mofford
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  3. Lana Abdole
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  4. Amy M. Loree
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  6. Kaitlyn M. Vagnini
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  7. Leah M. Hecht
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study idea. LRM-M, GJ-M, and LMH were involved in data collection. Data analyses were conducted by LRM-M and all authors contributed to interpretation. The first draft was written by LRM-M, GJ-M, and LA. All authors provided feedback on the manuscript and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa R. Miller-Matero.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Institutional Review Board at Henry Ford Health approved this study. All participants provided informed consent.

Competing interests

Leah M. Hecht is currently employed at Weight Watchers/WW although this work was conducted prior to this employment.

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Miller-Matero, L.R., Joseph-Mofford, G., Abdole, L. et al. Alcohol and cannabis use among women with infertility: associations with psychiatric symptoms, attempts to conceive, and engagement in fertility treatment. Arch Womens Ment Health 27, 259–264 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-023-01408-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-023-01408-y

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