“Letting go” coping is associated with successful IVF treatment outcome
Received 23 April 2008; received in revised form 21 July 2008; accepted 7 August 2008. published online 20 October 2008.
Objective
To examine whether women's baseline coping strategies are associated with IVF outcomes. Psychologic factors have been found to be prospectively associated with the outcome of IVF treatments in several studies. However, the exact role of coping strategies, which are modifiable, remains unclear. Problem-focused coping may be more adaptive for controllable situations, whereas emotion-focused coping (EFC) may be more adaptive for uncontrollable situations, such as most stages of IVF treatment.
Design
Prospective study. Coping strategies were assessed before IVF treatment began.
Setting
Infertility and IVF unit in a university-affiliated tertiary medical center.
Patient(s)
Eighty-eight women undergoing IVF treatment in our unit.
Main Outcome Measure(s)
Pregnancy.
Result(s)
Of 88 women participating in the study, 23.9% became pregnant. In the male and female factor infertility groups, the EFC strategy of “letting go” was positively and significantly associated with pregnancy. Adjusting for age, cause of infertility, and number of cycles, the relative risk for pregnancy by “letting go” was 1.88 (95% confidence interval 1.1–3.2).
Conclusion(s)
These findings support the notion that in the context of a low-control situation such as IVF treatment, women who try to be actively in control may pay a higher price in terms of pregnancy probabilities. Means of increasing “letting go” are discussed.
cSackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Reprint requests: Dr. Nathalie Rapoport-Hubschman, Infertility and IVF Unit, Rabin Medical Center, Jabotinski 39, 49100 Petah Tikva, Israel (FAX: 972 937 64 49).
N.R.-H. has nothing to disclose. Y.G. has nothing to disclose. R.R.-A. has nothing to disclose. O.S. has nothing to disclose. B.F. has nothing to disclose.
ABSTRACT