Psychosocial and demographic correlates of the discontinuation of in vitro fertilization

In this study, we investigated the relationship between psychosocial factors assessed pre-treatment and the discontinuation of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment after one year.

A cohort study was performed in a Dutch fertility clinic and included 667 couples. Demographic characteristics, scores for psychosocial factors, discontinuation rates, reasons for discontinuation and outcome data of the treatment were measured. Discontinuation due to personal reasons was differentiated from discontinuation because of changing a clinic or physicians’ advice. The results showed that 37.5% of the couples became pregnant, while 40 (6%) discontinued IVF treatment because of personal reasons. A sample size of 288 women remained for analysis. A longer duration of infertility, less perceived social support in women and higher scores on acceptance of infertility in both men and women were significantly correlated with discontinuation. Multivariate analysis, using these variables including the age of the women, showed that these factors could explain 29% of the discontinuation.

These results point to a differentiation between couples who choose positively choose to discontinue treatment and those discontinuing from a more negative perspective. Opportunities to tailor interventions to this second group of couples need to be investigated.