Abstract

Aim

This study evaluated the level of fear and anxiety related to the COVID-19 outbreak, in infertile women whose ART cycles were delayed due to the pandemic.

Materials and methods

An online survey was sent to women whose ART cycles were postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak between April and May 2020. The study population were 101 participants. The main outcome measure is to determine the levels of fear and anxiety in infertile women by using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T and STAI-S) and Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S). The relationship of the COVID-19 outbreak with the willingness to go ahead with the desire for pregnancy was also assessed.

Results

The state-anxiety levels were significantly higher in women above 35 years (45.0 ± 5.2 vs. 42.2 ± 4.5, p = 0.006). Women with diminished ovarian reserve had a higher state-anxiety compared to other causes, but were not found to be significant (44.7 ± 5.2 vs. 42.5 ± 5.0, p = 0.173). Women who thought that the possibility of not being able to get pregnant was more important than being infected with the COVID-19 had higher anxiety levels than women who thought just the opposite. The diminished ovarian reserve and high duration of infertility were found to be significantly associated with higher anxiety levels (OR = 2.5, p < 0.05). The diminished ovarian reserve and previous ART failure significantly predicted the presence of clinical state-anxiety.

Conclusion

The state-anxiety was found to be higher in women whose cycles were postponed due to the outbreak and the presence of diminished ovarian reserve also significantly affected anxiety levels. Further research is needed to assess whether COVID-19 will have any impact on ART treatments in the next few years.

中文翻译：

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由于 COVID-19 爆发而推迟 ART 周期的不孕妇女的焦虑程度

摘要

目标

这项研究评估了与 COVID-19 爆发相关的恐惧和焦虑程度，这些不孕妇女的抗逆转录病毒治疗周期因大流行而延迟。

材料和方法

向 2020 年 4 月至 2020 年 5 月期间因 COVID-19 爆发而推迟 ART 周期的女性发送了一项在线调查。研究人群为 101 名参与者。主要结果测量是通过使用斯皮尔伯格状态特征焦虑量表（STAI-T 和 STAI-S）和对 COVID-19 量表（FCV-19S）的恐惧来确定不育妇女的恐惧和焦虑水平。还评估了 COVID-19 爆发与继续怀孕的意愿之间的关系。

结果

35 岁以上女性的状态焦虑水平显着升高（45.0 ± 5.2 vs. 42.2 ± 4.5，p  = 0.006）。与其他原因相比，卵巢储备减少的女性有更高的状态焦虑，但没有发现显着性（44.7 ± 5.2 vs. 42.5 ± 5.0，p  = 0.173）。认为无法怀孕的可能性比感染 COVID-19 更重要的女性的焦虑水平高于持相反观点的女性。发现卵巢储备减少和不孕症持续时间长与较高的焦虑水平显着相关（OR = 2.5，p  < 0.05）。卵巢储备减少和先前的抗逆转录病毒治疗失败显着预测了临床状态焦虑的存在。

结论

发现由于爆发而推迟周期的女性的状态焦虑更高，并且卵巢储备减少的存在也显着影响焦虑水平。需要进一步研究来评估 COVID-19 是否会在未来几年对 ART 治疗产生任何影响。