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Embryo transfers performed during daylight savings time led to reduced live birth rates in older patients

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
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Abstract

Purpose

To study the impact of undergoing an embryo transfer during the week of daylight savings time transition on live birth rates.

Methods

We performed a retrospective observational cohort study of patients undergoing embryo transfer at an academic infertility practice during the week of spring or fall daylight savings time transition (cases), or the 2 weeks preceding and following the daylight savings transition (controls) between 2015 and 2021. The primary exposure was completion of an embryo transfer during the week of daylight savings time transition. The primary outcome was a comparison of live birth rate per embryo transfer among individuals undergoing an embryo transfer during the week of daylight savings time (DST) transition and those who did not.

Results

A total of 309 embryo transfers occurred during the week of daylight savings transition and 1242 embryo transfers occurred in the control group outside of the daylight savings transition week. The live birth rate after embryo transfer during DST transition weeks was 39.2% (121/309) compared to 40.8% (507/1242) (p = 0.59). When restricting the analysis to individuals (age > 37 years), the live birth rate after embryo transfer during DST transition week was 23.5% (24/102) compared to 34.8% (149/429) (p = 0.03). This difference persisted in the mixed-effects regression model demonstrating that after adjusting for relevant covariates, embryo transfer during DST transition weeks resulted in a 45% decrease in the odds of achieving a live birth.

Conclusion

Daylight savings time transition may be associated with less favorable outcomes after embryo transfer among an older infertile patient population. Future work is needed to prospectively examine the influence of circadian rhythm disruption on reproductive outcomes.

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Data will be made available to the editors of the journal for review or query upon request.

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Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from the following grant: 5 K12 HD050121-18 (JRW).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Ramon A. Pelayo

  2. Sibel Health, Chicago, IL, USA

    Shuai Xu

  3. Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 259 E Erie St Suite 2400, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Jessica R. Walter

Authors
  1. Ramon A. Pelayo
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  2. Shuai Xu
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  3. Jessica R. Walter
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Ramon Pelayo and Jessica Walter. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ramon Pelayo, and all authors subsequently edited and commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica R. Walter.

Ethics declarations

This retrospective chart review study involving human participants was in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by Northwestern University’s Institutional Review Board (Protocol #STU00216539). The authors declare no competing interests.

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Pelayo, R.A., Xu, S. & Walter, J.R. Embryo transfers performed during daylight savings time led to reduced live birth rates in older patients. J Assist Reprod Genet 40, 2639–2647 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-023-02920-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-023-02920-x

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