ART Outcomes: Female Physicians vs Nonphysicians

TOPLINE:

Female physicians and nonphysicians have similar assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes, with no significant difference in live birth rates, and female physicians achieve pregnancy slightly faster. However, female physicians have higher rates of infertility.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from 248 female physicians and 3470 nonphysicians who underwent 10,095 ART cycles at a single academic center in Boston.
• The primary outcome was live birth rate per transfer, with secondary outcomes including implantation rate, early pregnancy loss rate, and time to pregnancy.
• Patients were monitored with lab testing for estrogen and progesterone, as well as transvaginal ultrasonograms during their ovarian stimulation cycles.
• Oocyte retrievals were performed 36 hours after triggering with human chorionic gonadotropin, leuprolide, or a combination trigger.
• Embryos were cultured in standard one-step culture media, with some undergoing assisted hatching or preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy.

TAKEAWAY:

• Female physicians and nonphysicians had similar live birth rates per embryo transfer (live birth rate, 39.3% vs 38.2%; adjusted relative risk [aRR], 1.01; 95% CI, 0.91-1.13).
• There was no significant difference in implantation rates between female physicians and nonphysicians (implantation rate, 34.7% vs 33.7%; RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.94-1.14).
• Early pregnancy loss rates were comparable between female physicians and nonphysicians (early pregnancy loss rate, 21.9% vs 19.8%; aRR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.99-1.41).
• Female physicians achieved pregnancy faster than nonphysicians (time to pregnancy, 21.82 vs 25.16 weeks; aRR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.83-0.89).

IN PRACTICE:

“We found higher rates of unexplained infertility (34.0%) among female physicians compared with both nonphysicians and general population estimates (15-30%). This suggests that factors beyond age may contribute to infertility in female physicians. Potential contributors such as workplace environmental toxins, long work hours, and overnight shift work, known to be associated with infertility, may contribute to the higher of unexplained infertility among female physicians and warrant further study,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Anna C. Vanderhoff, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. It was published online in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

LIMITATIONS:

This study’s retrospective single-center design introduced selection bias and limited generalizability. Analyzing per transfer outcomes did not fully capture patients who did not proceed to embryo transfer. Including patients who used donor eggs could confound the outcomes, though this was controlled for.

DISCLOSURES:

Andrea Lanes, PhD, disclosed receiving payment from BORN Ontario. Keizra Mecklai, MD, reported receiving past payment from Ro Fertility (previously Modern Fertility). No other potential conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.