Comparison of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Outcomes between Fasting during Ramadan, Pre and Post Ramadan Patients: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: Infertility is a problem that affected all aspect of life in couples. Infertility treatment create stressful condition for patients and control of this stress is effective for success rate of pregnancy. Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims and they believe that Ramadan can effect on their spiritual lives and they become closer to God. So we think that maybe Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) outcomes improve in the fasting patients during Ramadan. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of ART in fasting patients during Ramadan and compare with non-fasting pre and post Ramadan. Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed the demographic, clinical and laboratory records of 367 patients who were in treatment plan in Ramadan, 424 patients in pre and 386 in post Ramadan. All data including Age, number of retrieved oocytes, matured oocytes, types of ART procedures, number of fertilized oocytes, number of transferred embryo, pregnancy rates were collected from the hospital records. The data analyzed by SPSS v 16. The level of significance was p < 0.05. Results: We analyzed 1177 case in 3 groups. There was an increase in the ART outcomes including Number of COC, oocyte, ET and pregnancy rate, however, this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Although, positive results were slightly higher in Ramadan, but it was not statistically significant. We conclude that fasting during Ramadan has no significant negative effect on the outcomes of ART. More studies needed to evaluate hormonal and psychological parameters in ART patients during Ramadan.