Factors Associated with Poor Ovarian Reserve in Young Infertile Women: A Hospital-based Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: In practice, we encounter many young infertile women with poor ovarian reserve though ovarian reserve starts to decline after 35 years of age. One of the established risk factors for poor ovarian reserve in young women is endometriosis. There are other conditions that are reported to be associated which require further research. AIMS: We aimed to study the prevalence of poor ovarian reserve and to find out the associated factors in women who are <35 years of age. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a prospective observational cohort study conducted in a tertiary care setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Women aged more than 21 years and <35 years without Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) or ovarian dysgenesis with normal male factor were included after ethical approval. The sample size was 166 and serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) was estimated by immunoenzymatic assay and expressed in ng/ml. AMH ≤0.99 ng/ml was considered poor ovarian reserve. Apart from established risk factors, the proposed risk factors studied were age 31–35 years, presence of medical disorders, gynaecological pathology and history of repeated ovulation induction (OI). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analysed by SPSS version 25. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used to compare the variables between normal ovarian reserve and poor ovarian reserve. Risk estimation was done by logistic regression and was expressed in odds ratio (OR). RESULTS: Poor ovarian reserve was diagnosed in 40% of this cohort, and 62% were between 31 and 35 years. After adjusting for age >30 years, women with endometrioma, hypothyroidism and prior history of ≥3 cycles of OI were found to be having poor ovarian reserve (OR was 5.7, 2.5 and 2.3, respectively). CONCLUSION: Poor ovarian reserve was present in 40% of young women, and significantly associated factors were hypothyroidism and history of repeated multiple OI. This could be a confounder for other underlying mechanisms driving early exhaustion of ovarian reserve in certain young women. Hence, along with established risk factors, these women should undergo AMH testing irrespective of age.