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Women show a higher level of anxiety during IVF treatment than men and hold different concerns: a cohort study

  • Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to determine levels of anxiety during the course of IVF treatment and gender differences in treatment anxiety.

Methods

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 state-trait-anxiety-inventory (STAI) as well as further items on specific stress triggers.

Results

Women 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 (47.4 ± 11.0 and 40.1 ± 9.85) than their male partners (41.4 ± 9.66 and 35.3 ± 8.57, p < 0.01). Over the course of several IVF cycles, average STAI scores increased for both genders. When asked about specific stress factors on a 4-point 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’ (3.24 ± 0.82, p < 0.01) and ‘disclosure of infertility’ (3.02 ± 1.10, p < 0.001). Their male partners are more concerned about the health risks the women have to take such as ‘side effects of ovarian stimulation’ (2.55 ± 0.77, p = 0.002) and ‘bleeding or infection after the oocyte aspiration’ (2.58 ± 0.84, p = 0.007). Both genders indicated to be very little worried about multiple pregnancies after IVF.

Conclusions

Women show a higher level of anxiety during IVF treatment and hold different concerns. Neither of the sexes appears to be familiar with the risks associated with multiple pregnancies, a matter that should better be addressed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Luebeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538, Luebeck, Germany

    Martin Alexander Schaller & Constanze Banz-Jansen

  2. Department of Reproductive Medicine and Gynecological Endocrinology, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, 23538, Luebeck, Germany

    Georg Griesinger

Authors
  1. Martin Alexander Schaller
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  2. Georg Griesinger
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  3. Constanze Banz-Jansen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Alexander Schaller.

Ethics declarations

Full compliance with ethical standards was confirmed by the ethical institutional review board of the University of Luebeck, who reviewed and monitored the study through its course and granted its full approval in September 2012.

Funding

There were no grants supporting the writing of this paper.

Conflict of interest

G. 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. Banz-Jansen, declares that she has no conflict of interest. M. A. Schaller declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical 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. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

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

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Schaller, M.A., Griesinger, G. & Banz-Jansen, C. Women show a higher level of anxiety during IVF treatment than men and hold different concerns: a cohort study. Arch Gynecol Obstet 293, 1137–1145 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-016-4033-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-016-4033-x

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