Attitudes and Knowledge of Infertile Iranian Couples Among Treatment with Assisted Reproductive Technologies During COVID-19 Pandemics

• Published in: Journal of family & reproductive health 2022-06, Vol.16 (2), p.116-123
• Main Authors: Peivandi, Sepideh, Razavi, Alireza, Shafiei, Shervin, Zamaniyan, Marzieh, Orafaie, Asma, Jafarpour, Hamed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Assisted Reproductive Technology; Attitude; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Infertility; Original; Pandemics
• ISSN: 1735-8949; 1735-9392
• DOI: 10.18502/jfrh.v16i2.9480

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected the continuation of all non-emergency medical treatment and patients potentially suffer from restrictions including patients under infertility treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of infertile couples about continuing assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) therapy during the COVID-19 outbreak, in Sari, Iran. Materials and methods: We conducted a prospective longitudinal investigation on potential infertile couples for treatment with ARTs referred to our infertility clinic from March 2020 to June 2020. Ninety-two patients were studied voluntarily and anonymously in this study. A self-developed structured questionnaire was used to assess the attitude towards continuing infertility treatment. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Thirty-two patients (33.33%) had decreased motivation to continue treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fear of transmission to the fetus (28.13%) had the highest frequency among the causes of decreased motivation to continue treatment (P-value = 0.011). Trust on the support of the treatment team (56.67%) was the most common reason for not reducing motivation in patients without decreased motivation (P