Obesity and the possibility of conceiving a child during assisted reproduction treatment: An Argentinian experience

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to assess the association between BMI and the possibility of conceiving a child through an assisted reproduction treatment. METHODS: A study of cases and controls matched by age, with 394 patients that underwent treatment at GESTAR (assisted reproduction center), between 2013-2017. The association between BMI and the possibility of conceiving a child, analyzed through logistic regression. RESULTS: Among the cases (successful treatments) 14% were obese, while in the control group (patients that did not get pregnant) the obesity rate was 21%. There was a significant difference (p<0,01) in the BMI, the number of recovered oocytes, normally fertilized oocytes and the number of transferred embryos. The Odds Ratio (OR) in SPSS was 0.26 ± (0.14, 0.50) - 95% CI, indicating that conceiving a child by assisted reproduction is 74 times lower in patients that are obese when compared to non-obese patients (p<0,001). And the Odds Ratio (OR) calculated by logistic regression in Stata 11 was 0.80 ± (0.76, 0.86), 95% CI, which indicates a 20% decrease in the possibility of conceiving for each point on the BMI scale. CONCLUSION: Obesity is associated with a lower conception likelihood through assisted reproduction technologies.