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Perceived stress and sleep quality before oocyte pick-up, embryo transfer, and pregnancy test in women receiving in vitro fertilization treatment

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Abstract

Background

Infertility is a major health problem that affects both the family and the community. Women receiving infertility treatment may suffer from stress and even experience sleep disturbance. Sleep quality is an important factor of human health and well-being. Sleep disturbances tend to occur among infertile women during in vitro fertilization treatment. Many studies have focused on the stress and sleep quality associated with their treatment in infertile women. However, few studies have investigated factors linked to their sleep disturbances.

Objective

This study investigated the relationship between perceived stress and sleep quality before oocyte pick-up, in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer, and pregnancy test in women receiving in vitro fertilization treatment.

Material and methods

This prospective, longitudinal study was conducted between January and May 2020. One hundred fifty-seven women receiving infertility treatment were included in the study. A personal information form, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to collect data.

Results

The relationship between the Perceived Stress Scale scores and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores in all stages of infertility treatment was found to be positively significant at the p < .001 significance level.

Conclusion

Perceived stress level was high in women throughout the infertility treatment. Our study suggested that sleep quality was impaired as stress increased.

Trial registration

70904504/38

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Abbreviations

ART:

assisted reproductive techniques

ET:

embryo transfer

IUI:

intrauterine insemination

IVF:

in vitro fertilization

OPU:

oocyte pick-up

PCOS:

polycystic ovary syndrome

PT:

pregnancy test

PSS:

Perceived Stress Scale

PSQI:

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

SPSS:

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the participants who shared their information with us.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecological Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Akdeniz University, Dumlupinar Boulevard, Antalya, Turkey

    Nurcan Kirca & Meryem Ongen

Authors
  1. Nurcan Kirca
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  2. Meryem Ongen
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Contributions

Study design, NK; data collection, NK; data analysis, NK; study supervision, NK; literature review, NK and MO; manuscript writing, NK and MO; and critical revisions for important intellectual content, NK.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nurcan Kirca.

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Ethics approval

All 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.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Presentation at a conference

It was presented as a verbal statement at the 1st National Women’s Health Congress organized by the Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Halic University on September 12–13, 2020.

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Kirca, N., Ongen, M. Perceived stress and sleep quality before oocyte pick-up, embryo transfer, and pregnancy test in women receiving in vitro fertilization treatment. Sleep Breath 25, 1977–1985 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-021-02328-w

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