Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on June 23, 2007
Human Reproduction 2007 22(9):2554-2558; doi:10.1093/humrep/dem171
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The psychological impact of IVF failure after two or more cycles of IVF with a mild versus standard treatment strategy
1 Department of Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 3 Department of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands 4 Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
5 Correspondence address. Tel: +31 10 408 78 05; Fax: +31 10 408 94 20; E-mail: c.deklerk{at}erasmusmc.nl
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Abstract |
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BACKGROUND: Failure of IVF treatment after a number of cycles can be devastating for couples. Although mild IVF strategies reduce the psychological burden of treatment, failure may cause feelings of regret that a more aggressive approach, including the transfer of two embryos, was not employed. In this study, the impact of treatment failure after two or more cycles on stress was studied, following treatment with a mild versus a standard treatment strategy.
METHODS: Randomized controlled two-centre trial (ISRCTN35766970 [controlled-trials.com] ). Women were randomized to undergo mild ovarian stimulation (including GnRH antagonist co-treatment) and single embryo transfer (n = 197) or standard GnRH agonist long-protocol ovarian stimulation with double embryo transfer (n = 194). Participants completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale prior to commencing treatment and 1 week after the outcome of their final treatment cycle was known. Data from women who underwent two or more IVF cycles were subject to analysis (n = 253).
RESULTS: Women who experienced treatment failure after standard IVF treatment presented more symptoms of depression 1 week after treatment termination compared with women who had undergone mild IVF: adjusted mean (±95% confidence interval) = 10.2 (±2.3) versus 5.4 (±1.8), respectively, P = 0.01.
CONCLUSIONS: Failure of IVF treatment after a mild treatment strategy may result in fewer short-term symptoms of depression as compared to failure after a standard treatment strategy. These findings may further encourage the application of mild IVF treatment strategies in clinical practice.
Key words: assisted reproduction/GnRH antagonist/single embryo transfer/stress/treatment failure
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Introduction |
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The implementation of IVF treatment strategies which combine shorter and milder ovarian stimulation protocols and single embryo transfer (SET) can reduce short-term side effects related to ovarian stimulation (de Klerk et al., 2006
) and prevent multiple pregnancies (Heijnen et al., 2007). A possible drawback of milder strategies is the higher cycle cancellation rate and the necessity of a greater number of treatment cycles to achieve pregnancy (Fauser et al., 1999). Women who undergo this type of IVF treatment may therefore have to face the uncertainty and disappointment related to a failed IVF cycle more frequently. This could in turn result in an increase in treatment related stress. However, we have recently shown that the combination of SET with mild ovarian stimulation in IVF results in similar overall patient discomfort over 1 year of treatment compared with standard stimulation with the transfer of two embryos (Heijnen et al., 2007). Furthermore, Højgaard et al. (2001) suggest that treatment burden increases over cycles more in women treated by a standard long protocol compared with women receiving mild stimulation. However, it remains unclear whether the psychological consequences of treatment failure after multiple cycles of mild IVF are more or less severe than failure of standard IVF regimens.
In general, IVF treatment failure seems to be associated with a deterioration of emotional well being (Slade et al., 1997). In a study by Verhaak et al. (2005), over 20% of the women who did not achieve pregnancy showed subclinical depression and/or anxiety up to 6 months after treatment termination. It may be postulated that women who receive milder approaches in IVF are more prone to regret the choice for a new and mild treatment compared with women receiving the standard IVF protocol when facing overall treatment failure and confronting the reality of childlessness. On the other hand, reduced stress and discomfort during milder IVF treatment may have a positive impact on the psychological status afterwards, even when pregnancy was not achieved.
In the present study, self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety 1 week after treatment termination in women receiving mild ovarian stimulation using GnRH antagonist co-treatment combined with SET were compared with women receiving standard IVF treatment (GnRH agonist long protocol with the transfer of two embryos). The principal focus of the study was the impact of unsuccessful IVF treatment on women's psychological well being following the mild versus standard strategy.
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Materials and Methods |
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Subjects
Couples with an indication for IVF or IVF/ICSI were recruited at the Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam (The Netherlands), and the University Medical Centre, Utrecht (The Netherlands), between February 2002 and February 2004. Only couples with no previous unsuccessful IVF treatment were included. The study was limited to women aged <38, with a regular menstrual cycle (25–35 days) and a body mass index of 18–28 kg/m2. These study criteria were chosen to exclude women for whom either mild stimulation or SET would not normally be considered suitable. Only women who had sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language to fill out the questionnaires were invited to take part in the psychological study.
Intervention
Standard stimulation with the transfer of two embryos
In the standard treatment arm, a GnRH agonist (leuproline 0.2 mg/day, Lucrin®; Abbott B.V., Amstelveen, The Netherlands or triptoreline 0.1 mg/day, Decapeptyl®; Ferring B.V., Hoofddorp, The Netherlands) was started in the midluteal phase of the preceding cycle. After 
2 weeks of GnRH agonist administration (s.c.), ovarian stimulation was started with recombinant FSH (recFSH) s.c. (Gonal-F®: Serono Benelux B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands or Puregon®: N.V. Organon, Oss, The Netherlands) at a daily dose of 150 IU/day. When the leading follicle had reached at least 18 mm in diameter and at least one additional follicle measured >15 mm, hCG (Profasi®: Serono Benelux B.V. or Pregnyl®: N.V. Organon) 10 000 IU s.c. was administered to induce final oocyte maturation. Oocyte retrieval and fertilization in vitro was performed according to standard procedures as described previously (Kastrop et al., 1999). A maximum of two embryos were transferred. Good quality embryos were cryopreserved and thawed for transfer in a subsequent unstimulated cycle. Luteal phase supplementation with progesterone, 600 mg/day, intravaginally (Progestan®: N.V. Organon) was started on the evening of the oocyte retrieval and continued for 12 days.
Mild stimulation with SET
In the mild strategy group, ovarian stimulation was performed with a fixed starting dose of 150 IU recFSH s.c. per day, initiated on the fifth cycle day. GnRH antagonist (ganirelix, Orgalutran®: n.V. Organon, 0.25 mg/day s.c. or cetrorelix, Cetrotide®: serono Benelux, 0.25 mg/day) was commenced when at least one follicle 
14 mm was observed (Hohmann et al., 2003). Similar criteria applied for hCG, oocyte retrieval, fertilization and luteal phase support procedures as in the standard IVF group. Only the best quality embryo was transferred. Good quality embryos were cryopreserved for transfer in subsequent cycles.
Measures
Demographic data (e.g. age) and information on the couple's infertility history (e.g. duration of infertility) were obtained from medical records and patient questionnaires. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to measure anxiety and depression experienced by subjects in the week prior to screening (Zigmond and Snaith, 1983). Both subscales (range 0–21) of the HADS consist of seven items, which are scored on a 4-point-Likert scale from 0 to 3. Higher scores indicate the presence of more symptoms. Cut-off scores for possible and probable depressive and anxiety disorder are 7/8 and 10/11, respectively. The Dutch version of the HADS has demonstrated good test–retest reliability, homogeneity and internal consistency (Spinhoven et al., 1997).
Study design
This psychological study was part of a two-arm randomized controlled, non-inferiority, effectiveness trial, which encompasses the medical, economical and psychological evaluation of mild ovarian stimulation combined with SET. Sample size was determined by a power calculation of the number required to demonstrate non-inferiority of the mild strategy in achieving a live birth within 12 months of commencing treatment (Eijkemans et al., 2006). Couples were randomized into either the mild treatment group (GnRH antagonist co-treatment combined with SET) (n = 205) or the standard treatment group (standard ovarian stimulation including a GnRH agonist long-protocol combined with the transfer of two embryos) (n = 199). Block-randomization, stratified by clinic, was applied to achieve balance between the two groups within each hospital. The study design has recently been described in detail (Eijkemans et al., 2006) and the clinical outcomes of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) have recently been published elsewhere (Heijnen et al., 2007). Only women who had sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language to fill out the questionnaires were invited to take part in the psychological study (n = 391). Psychological outcomes during the first cycle have recently been published (de Klerk et al., 2006). The analyses in the present article were limited to the subgroup of patients that received two or more IVF cycles (n = 253). Women were asked to complete the HADS prior to commencing IVF treatment and one week after treatment outcome of every IVF cycle, with the exception of the first cycle.
Procedure
The study was approved by the Ethical Review Boards of the two participating clinics. Patients who met the eligibility criteria were either recruited by their treating physician during the IVF planning consultation (Rotterdam) or by one of the medical researchers before their IVF planning consultation (Utrecht). Randomization was carried out using sealed envelopes. Envelopes were opened by the physician/researcher after written consent was obtained from both partners. Women received a booklet containing the baseline questionnaire. Subsequent questionnaires were sent by mail. Couples in the mild IVF group were offered an extra fourth reimbursed treatment cycle to compensate for the possible reduction in birth rate.
Statistical analyses
Demographic data were analysed using Student's t-test for continuous variables and 
2-test for categorical variables. Psychological assessments from the final stimulated IVF treatment cycle were used for analysis. Multivariate analysis of covariance was performed on depression and anxiety scores with treatment strategy as independent variable and pregnancy status as effect modifier, while controlling for baseline depression and anxiety scores. Pregnancy status was defined as being either not pregnant and no remaining cryopreserved embryos, not pregnant but with remaining cryopreserved embryos or pregnant. 2 analysis was used to compare the percentage of women who had HADS scores above the cut-off between the mild and standard IVF group. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 10.1).
Significance testing on all outcome measures was done at 0.05 level of significance (two-tailed).
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Results |
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Of the 391 women who were recruited, 32 women did not receive their allocated intervention. Of the remaining group, 253 women received multiple IVF cycles (Fig. 1). No significant differences between the mild and standard IVF groups were found for age, duration of infertility, type of infertility (primary or secondary), cause of infertility and baseline psychological scores (Table 1). Women in the mild strategy arm received more IVF cycles than the standard strategy group (mean = 3.45; range = 2–6 versus mean = 2.88; range = 2–5). One hundred and thirty-seven women failed to provide endpoint psychological measurements. These were considered as study dropouts. They differed from participants in pregnancy status only, and no differences between dropouts and participants were observed for baseline stress variables (Table 2). Twelve further women were dropped from the analysis, since they had missing data for either baseline psychological variables or pregnancy status.
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The adjusted means and 95% confidence intervals of the HADS scores are depicted in Table 3. Multivariate analysis of covariance showed no main effects of treatment strategy. Overall, women in the mild IVF strategy arm did not differ from women in the standard strategy arm on psychological variables. However, a modification effect of treatment strategy by pregnancy status was found for depression (P = 0.002). In the group of women who did not get pregnant and had no cryopreserved embryos, those who underwent standard IVF showed more depressive symptoms than those who underwent mild IVF (P = 0.007). The modification effect of treatment strategy by pregnancy status for anxiety was not significant, but a trend was found (P = 0.07). Again, in women who did not get pregnant without cryopreserved embryos, the standard IVF group demonstrated more symptoms of anxiety than the mild IVF group (P = 0.04).
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Additionally, significant main effects of pregnancy status were found for depression (P < 0.001) and anxiety (P = 0.01). Pregnant women showed fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than non-pregnant women. Also, the main effects of both baseline depression (P < 0.001) and baseline anxiety (P < 0.001) were significant, as well as the interaction term baseline anxiety by treatment strategy (P = 0.02). Higher baseline depression scores were associated with higher endpoint depression scores, and higher baseline anxiety scores were associated with higher endpoint anxiety scores, especially in women undergoing standard IVF. When the number of IVF cycles was taken into account as a confounder in the analysis, no association was found with psychological scores (HADS depression: P = 0.31; HADS anxiety: P = 0.21). Therefore, this factor was omitted from the final model.
Percentages of women who showed clinically relevant depression and anxiety scores one week after the outcome of their final IVF cycle are depicted in Table 4. 2 analyses showed that 38.8% (19/49) of the women in the standard IVF group who underwent multiple IVF cycles scored above the cut-off score for possible depressive disorder against 19.4% (13/67) of the women in the mild IVF group (P = 0.04). No significant differences were found for probable depressive disorder and anxiety between mild and standard IVF arms.
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Discussion |
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TopAbstractIntroductionMaterials and MethodsResultsDiscussionAcknowledgementsReferences |
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The main finding of this study is that a mild IVF treatment strategy is associated with fewer symptoms of depression after overall treatment failure than standard IVF treatment. One week after they had finished their last treatment cycle, non-pregnant women without remaining cryopreserved embryos who had been repeatedly treated by a mild protocol reported significantly fewer symptoms of depression than non-pregnant women without remaining cryopreserved embryos who had received the standard IVF strategy. Furthermore, women who underwent multiple cycles of standard IVF showed more often clinically relevant symptoms of depression after treatment failure as compared to women who underwent multiple cycles of mild IVF.
Previous analyses of this RCT showed that a mild IVF treatment strategy results in similar patient discomfort during a first cycle as standard treatment (de Klerk et al., 2006). However, the results presented in this article suggest that treatment burden becomes more severe with every cycle in women treated by a standard long protocol as compared to women who received mild IVF treatment. These findings are consistent with a previous study (Højgaard et al., 2001). A possible explanation could be that prolonged ovarian suppression with the use of GnRH agonists caused more symptoms of depression in women who received standard IVF. Women who receive GnRH agonist medication experience a loss of endogenous ovarian gonadotrophin stimulation, which results in a decrease in both estrogens and androgens (Warnock et al., 1998). Results of a study by Warnock et al. (1998, 2000) suggest that depressive symptoms increase in women on GnRH agonist therapy for endometriosis and are temporally related to the time women were taking the GnRH agonists. Case reports show that symptoms related to GnRH therapy usually remit 4–6 weeks after the last injection (Warnock and Bundren, 1997). No significant differences in depression and anxiety between groups were found in women who achieved pregnancy.
The results of this study also suggest that women who were treated by a mild IVF strategy did not regret their decision to take part in this study, even after overall treatment failure. The fact that only a small percentage of couples in the mild stimulation group indicated any wish to change to the standard treatment protocol after one or more failed cycles (Heijnen et al., 2007) supports this interpretation. Although psychological scores were in the normal range for the mild strategy group, this does not imply that doubts about this strategy were non-existent. Even though mild ovarian stimulation with SET can result in similar cumulative term live birth rates in one year of treatment compared to standard stimulation with the transfer of two embryos (Heijnen et al., 2007), patients might still prefer the lower frequency of treatment cycles associated with standard IVF protocols. It was shown previously that the possible lower pregnancy chance per transfer is the most important motive for patients to decide to transfer two embryos instead of one (Blennborn et al., 2005). Therefore, counselling should not only entail the medical aspects of IVF treatment, but also the psychological consequences that can differ between different treatment strategies as the present study has shown. Furthermore, counselling should be a continuing process, since treatment implications seem to vary during the different stages of treatment.
Besides the strengths of this study (e.g. RCT, large sample, validated questionnaire), it also suffers from limitations. No questionnaire was completed after the first cycle, since this was considered to be an excessive burden to the patient who had to keep a daily diary throughout the first cycle (de Klerk et al., 2006). Therefore, it is unknown how women who received only one cycle felt after treatment termination. Another limitation of the current study is the short length of the follow-up period (e.g. 1 week). To determine the long-term psychological consequences of mild IVF, a longer follow-up period is needed. An ongoing negative psychological impact of unsuccessful infertility treatment has been reported up to 6 months after treatment termination (Verhaak et al., 2005).
No records were kept on non-respondents and therefore the general applicability of the study results is unclear. On the basis of the average number of couples which yearly undergo IVF treatment in the two participating hospitals and who would qualify for the study (n = 300), the estimated response rate was 65% (391/600) (de Klerk et al., 2006). Furthermore, this study suffered from a high dropout rate [54% (137/253)]. This might have introduced a reporting bias, since one could hypothesize that women who experienced more symptoms were less likely to fill in questionnaires. However, no differences in baseline anxiety and depression scores were found between study dropouts and women who did complete the study. High attrition rates are not uncommon in this research area: in a similar longitudinal study by Verhaak et al. (2005), the attrition rate was 45%. Tracking couples throughout their IVF treatment provides a practical challenge.
In conclusion, the results of this study provide the first evidence that the use of a mild IVF treatment strategy which combines GnRH antagonist ovarian stimulation and SET is associated with less patient stress immediately following overall treatment failure than standard IVF treatment. The acceptability of mild IVF protocols by patients and clinicians might be facilitated by these results. Infertile couples facing IVF need to be thoroughly counselled about the medical, psychological and economical implications of their choice of treatment strategy in order to maximize patient autonomy.
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Acknowledgements |
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The authors would like to thank all the couples who participated in this trial. We would like to extend our thanks to all the staff involved at the Erasmus MC and the University Medical Centre Utrecht. This study (no. 945-12-010) was funded by ZonMw (The Netherlands).
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References |
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Eijkemans MJ, Heijnen EM, de Klerk C, Habbema JD, Fauser BC. Comparison of different treatment strategies in IVF with cumulative live birth over a given period of time as the primary end-point: methodological considerations on a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial. Hum Reprod (2006) 21:344–351.
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Submitted on February 13, 2007; resubmitted on April 18, 2007; accepted on May 10, 2007.
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