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Psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during COVID pandemic

OBJECTIVE: To assess the psychological impact of suspension/postponement of various fertility treatments on infertile women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted as an online survey among infertile women consulting either through...

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Autores principales: Jaiswal, Parul, Mahey, Reeta, Singh, Shalini, Vanamail, Perumal, Gupta, Monica, Cheluvaraju, Rohitha, Sharma, J B, Bhatla, Neerja
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8942756/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35045244
http://dx.doi.org/10.5468/ogs.21254
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author Jaiswal, Parul
Mahey, Reeta
Singh, Shalini
Vanamail, Perumal
Gupta, Monica
Cheluvaraju, Rohitha
Sharma, J B
Bhatla, Neerja
author_facet Jaiswal, Parul
Mahey, Reeta
Singh, Shalini
Vanamail, Perumal
Gupta, Monica
Cheluvaraju, Rohitha
Sharma, J B
Bhatla, Neerja
author_sort Jaiswal, Parul
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To assess the psychological impact of suspension/postponement of various fertility treatments on infertile women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted as an online survey among infertile women consulting either through teleconsultation or physical consultation at a fertility clinic of a tertiary care referral unit. A validated questionnaire was given as a WhatsApp link to the women who were consulting for the resumption of services. Questions asked were based on their socio-demographic parameters, fertility treatment at the time of suspension, anxiety (self-reported) and stress (perceived stress scale-4, PSS-4) due to delay in treatment, psychosocial effect of pandemic, and wishes regarding the resumption of fertility services. RESULTS: Of 430 patients who received the questionnaire, 250 completed the survey (response rate: 58%). The mean age of participants was 29.26±4.18 years and the majority (70.4%) had lower socioeconomic status. The average PSS-4 score was 7.8±0.71, and the prevalence of self-reported anxiety was 72%. Those who suffered migration during the pandemic had significantly higher PSS-4 scores, and increasing age was associated with increased self-reported anxiety due to the suspension of fertility services. The top three priorities reported were infertility and treatment delay (48.4%), job loss (19.2%), and the risk of contracting COVID-19 infection (16%). The degree of spousal support was significantly correlated with lower PSS-4 scores (r=−0.30, P<0.01). On multivariate logistic analysis, duration of infertility, delay in treatment due to suspension of services, and fear of COVID-19 infection were significant predictors of stress and anxiety. CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes the need to investigate psychosocial health and to provide psychological support to this vulnerable population in addition to triaging fertility treatments in a phased manner.
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spelling pubmed-89427562022-03-31 Psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during COVID pandemic Jaiswal, Parul Mahey, Reeta Singh, Shalini Vanamail, Perumal Gupta, Monica Cheluvaraju, Rohitha Sharma, J B Bhatla, Neerja Obstet Gynecol Sci Original Article OBJECTIVE: To assess the psychological impact of suspension/postponement of various fertility treatments on infertile women during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted as an online survey among infertile women consulting either through teleconsultation or physical consultation at a fertility clinic of a tertiary care referral unit. A validated questionnaire was given as a WhatsApp link to the women who were consulting for the resumption of services. Questions asked were based on their socio-demographic parameters, fertility treatment at the time of suspension, anxiety (self-reported) and stress (perceived stress scale-4, PSS-4) due to delay in treatment, psychosocial effect of pandemic, and wishes regarding the resumption of fertility services. RESULTS: Of 430 patients who received the questionnaire, 250 completed the survey (response rate: 58%). The mean age of participants was 29.26±4.18 years and the majority (70.4%) had lower socioeconomic status. The average PSS-4 score was 7.8±0.71, and the prevalence of self-reported anxiety was 72%. Those who suffered migration during the pandemic had significantly higher PSS-4 scores, and increasing age was associated with increased self-reported anxiety due to the suspension of fertility services. The top three priorities reported were infertility and treatment delay (48.4%), job loss (19.2%), and the risk of contracting COVID-19 infection (16%). The degree of spousal support was significantly correlated with lower PSS-4 scores (r=−0.30, P<0.01). On multivariate logistic analysis, duration of infertility, delay in treatment due to suspension of services, and fear of COVID-19 infection were significant predictors of stress and anxiety. CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes the need to investigate psychosocial health and to provide psychological support to this vulnerable population in addition to triaging fertility treatments in a phased manner. Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2022-03 2022-01-20 /pmc/articles/PMC8942756/ /pubmed/35045244 http://dx.doi.org/10.5468/ogs.21254 Text en Copyright © 2022 Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/Articles published in Obstet Gynecol Sci are open-access, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) ) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Article
Jaiswal, Parul
Mahey, Reeta
Singh, Shalini
Vanamail, Perumal
Gupta, Monica
Cheluvaraju, Rohitha
Sharma, J B
Bhatla, Neerja
Psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during COVID pandemic
title Psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during COVID pandemic
title_full Psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during COVID pandemic
title_fullStr Psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during COVID pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during COVID pandemic
title_short Psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during COVID pandemic
title_sort psychological impact of suspension/postponement of fertility treatments on infertile women waiting during covid pandemic
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8942756/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35045244
http://dx.doi.org/10.5468/ogs.21254
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