This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Overweight, obese women less likely to respond to assisted reproductive technology
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
A high BMI may elevate the chances for cycle cancellation and pregnancy failure in women receiving assisted reproductive technology, data presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine suggest.
Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 2007 to 2008 data from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinical Online Reporting System to investigate a potential link between BMI and the efficacy of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in women.
The study population included 158,385 ART cycles of women with available height and weight information. The researchers classified women as underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese, according to BMI, with normal-weight women serving as the reference group.
Although women with higher BMIs received higher dosages of follicle-stimulating hormone, the researchers noted an upsurge in the likelihood of cycle cancellation among these populations, with odds for cancellation overall increasing from 1.05 for overweight women to 1.92 for obese women. Similarly, odds for cancellation due to low response rose from 1.11 for overweight women to 2.18 for women with BMIs of 50 or greater.
Treatment and pregnancy failure also appeared more likely for women with higher BMIs. Results revealed that odds for treatment failure rose from 1.04 among overweight women to 1.5 for obese women and the odds for pregnancy failure escalated from 1.12 for overweight women to 2.23 for women with BMIs of 50 or greater.
While BMI appeared to have the most influence on response to ART among the most obese women, overweight women still experienced considerably higher odds for treatment and pregnancy failure compared with normal weight women, the researchers concluded.
Clearly, a healthy body weight is an important advantage in all aspects of health, including reproductive health. We are hoping that with better information we can provide better help to our patients whose struggle with infertility includes a struggle with weight.
– James Goldfarb, MD
President of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology
For more information:
- Luke B. O-176.