Purpose

To evaluate perceptions of delayed fertility care secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional anonymous survey of N = 787/2,287 patients (response rate = 42.6%) from a single academic fertility center. Participants were randomized 1:1 to receive supplemental educational explaining the rationale behind recommendations to delay fertility treatments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessment of well-being was conducted via the Personal Health Questionnaire Depression Scale, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Ways of Coping-Revised, the Appraisal of Life Events Scale, and influence of supplemental education on agreement with ASRM COVID-19 Taskforce recommendations and associated distress.

Results

Participants in the education v. no education groups were 35.51 (SD = 4.06) and 37.24 (SD = 5.34) years old, married (90.8% v. 89.8%), had a graduate degree (53.9% v. 55.4%), > 1 year of infertility (73.4% v. 74.4%), and were nulliparous (69.0% v. 72.6%), with moderate to high distress (64.9% v. 64.2%) (ns). Distress was related to age, duration of infertility, and engagement in social support seeking and avoidant coping strategies (P < 0.001). Agreement with recommendations was related to receipt of supplemental education, history of pregnancy loss, and use of cognitive coping (P = 0.001).

Conclusion

Most participants were distressed by the delay of treatments. Supplemental education increased acceptance of recommendations but did not decrease distress. Future treatment delays should include education related to and assessment of understanding of recommendations, and inclusion of mental health professionals in patient care.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19大流行期间的心理困扰和推迟的生育保健

目的

为了评估对延迟生育能力的看法，应从COVID-19大流行中继发。

方法

这是来自单个学术生育中心的N = 787 / 2,287名患者的横断面匿名调查（响应率= 42.6％）。参与者按照1：1的比例随机接受补充教育，解释因COVID-19大流行而推迟生育治疗的建议背后的理由。通过个人健康问卷抑郁量表，广泛性焦虑症7，应对方式的修订，生活事件评估量表以及补充教育对ASRM COVID-19工作组建议的影响对幸福感进行评估和相关的困扰。

结果

参加教育诉无教育类别的参与者分别为35.51（SD = 4.06）和37.24（SD = 5.34）岁，已婚（90.8％vs. 89.8％），具有研究生学位（53.9％vs. 55.4％），>一年不育（73.4％vs. 74.4％），并且是未产的（69.0％vs. 72.6％），中度至高危（64.9％vs. 64.2％）（ns）。困扰与年龄，不孕持续时间，参与社会支持寻求和避免应对策略有关（P <0.001）。同意建议与接受补充教育，妊娠流产史和认知应对方法有关（P = 0.001）。

结论

大多数参与者因延误治疗而感到沮丧。补充教育增加了对建议的接受，但并没有减少困扰。未来的治疗延误应包括与建议有关的教育和对建议理解的评估，以及将精神卫生专业人员纳入患者护理。