Source/Disclosures
Source:
O’Neill M, et al. Abstract O-124. Presented at: ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo; Oct. 17-20, 2021; Baltimore (hybrid meeting).
Disclosures:
The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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Women with obesity receive inconsistent counseling about the impact that their weight can have on fertility and about weight loss strategies before they begin infertility care, at ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo.
“The study was prompted by an increasing trend in overweight and obese patients presenting for infertility care at our center over the last several years,” author Margaret O’Neill, MD, an obstetrics and gynecology resident at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, told Healio.
O’Neill M, et al. Abstract O-124. Presented at: ASRM Scientific Congress & Expo; Oct. 17-20, 2021; Baltimore (hybrid meeting).
The researchers noted that obesity is an increasingly important contributor to infertility among women of reproductive age. It also has been associated with increased maternal morbidity and reduced fecundity. Obesity reduces infertility treatment success as well, the researchers said, requiring complex workup before treatment begins.
Despite these obstacles and risks, few doctors regularly engage in weight counseling, the researchers said, even though it is associated with clinically significant weight loss. Women with obesity, then, often seek infertility treatment before being advised to lose weight or counseled on how best to do so.
The prospective survey study involved 48 women seeking infertility care at the Center for Advanced Reproductive Services in Farmington, Connecticut.
The participants were nonpregnant women of reproductive age (mean age, 36 years) who required an anesthesia consultation because they had an elevated BMI of 35 kg/m2 or greater before beginning in vitro fertilization. Also, 70.8% of the participants were white, 64.6% were college educated and 68.8% had an annual income greater than $75,000.
The mean BMI of the participants was 38.4 kg/m2, though a third of them did not know their BMI. About half of the participants said they knew their BMI, although the reported BMIs were on average 2 points lower than measured.
Margaret O’Neill
“We asked study participants to tell us about the counseling they have received from their primary OB/GYNs and infertility doctors about the relationship …….