Experiences of patients undergoing IVF treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic

To assess the willingness of patients with infertility to continue with their in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This cross-sectional survey was conducted in the reproductive, endocrine, and infertility medicine department (REIMD) at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Patients that were planned to undergo IVF treatment at REIMD were contacted and asked about whether they would like to start IVF treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic from August 2020 to August 2021. Data was analyzed using the SPSS version 24. Statistics obtained as means and standard deviations from continuous variables correlated with the Chi-square test and results were considered significant at p≤0.05.

Of the 400 participants, 245 (61.25%) were between the ages of 30-39 years. About 42.75% (n=171) of the patients had 6-10 years of infertility, and 18% (n=72) had at least one pregnancy but no living children. While 64.7% (n=259) of the participants responded on the first call, 83% (n=332) agreed to continue their treatment. Of those, 13% (n=43) preferred to book appointments as soon as possible; 29.8% (n=99) preferred booking within three months; while 57.2% (n=190) chose to book after three months. From our sample, 86.8% (n=59) were afraid to contract the virus and the choice to delay the IVF treatment correlated with the patient's age (p<0.001) and duration of infertility (p=0.007).

The COVID-19 pandemic affected IVF treatment courses, and many patients were afraid to be infected during this pandemic.