Lifestyle and in vitro fertilization: what do patients believe?

BACKGROUND: Patients have many beliefs regarding lifestyle factors and IVF outcomes. METHODS: Observational study of 208 IVF patients at an academic infertility center. Main outcome measures were perceived influence of various lifestyle factors assessed by multivariable logistic regression and p-value tests for linear trend (P(t)). RESULTS: A majority of participants believed that there were many women’s lifestyle choices that were influential, compared to fewer male factors (cessation of tobacco (72 %), alcohol (69 %), caffeine (62 %), and use of vitamins (88 %)). Compared to participants with less education, participants with a higher education level were less likely to believe vitamins were helpful and some alcohol use was not harmful. As income decreased, participants were less likely to consider dietary factors contributory to IVF success, such as women (p-trend, p = 0.02) and men (p-trend, p = 0.009) consuming a full-fat dairy diet. Participants’ beliefs were most commonly influenced by physicians (84 %) and the internet (71 %). CONCLUSIONS: Patients believed many lifestyle factors are associated with IVF success. Understanding patients’ assumptions regarding the effect of lifestyle factors on IVF success may better allow physicians to counsel patients about IVF outcomes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40738-016-0026-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.