Comparison of pregnancy outcome of different assisted reproductive protocols for non-tubal infertility in women with advanced age

Abstract

Objective To recommend a reasonable assisted reproductive protocol for non-tubal infertility women with advanced age. Methods A total of 2 094cycles from 1 312 non-tubal infertility women who were 35 years old or older and performedintrauterine insemination/in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IUI/IVF) were included. The patients were divided into 2 groups: IUI group (827 cycles) and IVF group (1 267 initiating cycles and 798 embryo transfer cycles). They were further divided into three age subgroups according to their age: 35-37, 38-39, and ≥40 years old, then the clinical outcomes of each group were analyzed, retrospectively. Results The clinical pregnancy rates of three age levels in IUI group were 10.78%, 8.72%, 4.14%, respectively; and in IVF-ET group were 53.03%, 47.51%, 22.69%, respectively. There were statistical significances in the clinical pregnancy rates of the two groups in different age subgroups (P< 0.05). Conclusion With the increase of age, the clinical pregnancy rates of IUI and IVF were significantly decreased, which is more obvious in women over 40 years. So we suggest that when women who are older than 40 years old without tubal factor should be advised to try IVF treatment. Key words: Advanced age women; Non-tubal infertility; Intrauterine insemination (IUI); In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET)