Research Article
Lifestyle Behaviours in Women Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in Singapore: A Cross Sectional Survey
Tan SQ*, Huang EY, Lau MSK, Viardot V, Teo
S, Chan J, Tan HH and Nadarajah S
Correspondence Address :
Tan Shu Qi
Resident, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, 100, Bukit Timah Road
Singapore, 229899
Tel: +65 6394 1062
Email:shuqitan@gmail.com
Received on: January 12, 2016, Accepted on: January 29, 2016, Published on: February 05, 2016
Citation: Tan SQ, Huang EY, Lau MSK, et al. (2016). Lifestyle Behaviours in Women Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in Singapore: A Cross Sectional Survey
Copyright: 2016 Tan Shu Qi et al. This is an open- ccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Objective: With emerging evidence that lifestyle factors impact on fertility outcomes, proper pre-treatment counseling of patients is essential to optimize reproductive outcomes. We conducted a survey to look into modifiable lifestyle differences in women before an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle, in hope to evaluate our current counseling process for IVF patients with regards to lifestyle modification.
Design: A cross sectional survey was performed at our IVF center in KK Women's and Children's Hospital. Survey forms were handed out to all women who were enrolled in the IVF program attending the pre-IVF counseling. Questions explored modifiable lifestyle habits in the past week, as well as five years ago.
Results: 106 women participated in our survey. 99 complete entries were analyzed. Prior to their IVF cycle, 35% exercised, 2% smoked, 14% drank alcohol, 73% drank caffeinated drinks, 26% consumed herbs and 10% nderwent acupuncture. Compared to habits 5 years ago, 74% exercised, 5% smoked, 24% drank alcohol, 80% drank caffeinated drinks, 27% consumed herbs and 12% underwent acupuncture. There were statistically significant changes in lifestyle habits in the areas of exercise, alcohol and caffeine intake (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Detailed lifestyle questioning should be integrated into IVF counseling sessions to facilitate public education on modifiable lifestyle habits before ART cycles, especially in the areas of exercise and acupuncture use in our local setting.
Keywords: IVF, Lifestyle habits, Herbs, Acupuncture, Exercise, Smoking, Caffeine