Declined Live Birth Rate from in vitro Fertilization Fresh Cycles Performed During Chinese New Year Holiday Season

Jiajia Zhai; Junyan Zhang; Jingfang He; Guanqun Li; Guimin Hao

doi:10.2147/RMHP.S422969

Declined Live Birth Rate from in vitro Fertilization Fresh Cycles Performed During Chinese New Year Holiday Season

Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2023 Aug 31:16:1703-1718. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S422969. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jiajia Zhai¹, Junyan Zhang^{2

3}, Jingfang He³, Guanqun Li⁴, Guimin Hao¹

Affiliations

¹ Reproductive Center, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Taiyuan, Shanxi, People's Republic of China.
³ Bothwin Clinical Study Consultant, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Technoderma Medicines Inc, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday season on the outcomes of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) fresh embryo transfer cycles.

Participants and methods: This retrospective study analyzed 4688 patients who received their first IVF fresh cycle attempt between January 2017 and October 2021. Of these, 4449 women underwent IVF during non-holiday seasons, while 239 women were treated during the CNY holiday season. The study included women who underwent IVF treatment during the specified time frame. The primary outcome was the live birth rate (LBR).

Results: The study found that the LBR of IVF performed during the CNY holiday season was 32.22%, which is significantly lower than that of the non-holiday season (43.38%, p<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the CNY holiday season (OR=0.62, 95% CI 0.47-0.82, p=0.001) was an independent factor associated with the live birth rate. Propensity score matching (PSM) data analysis showed that the LBR in the CNY holiday season group was 31.78% compared to 42.64% in the non-holiday season group (p=0.005). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) data also indicated that the CNY holiday season had a lower LBR than the non-holiday season (OR=0.64, 95% CI 0.47-0.87, p=0.005).

Conclusion: IVF performed during the CNY holiday season results in a lower live birth rate, potentially indicating that certain lifestyle adjustments during this period, such as unhealthy dietary, tobacco and alcohol usage, sleep disruption, and emotional stress experienced could have some influence on the outcomes.

Keywords: Chinese New Year holiday; alcohol; culture; live birth rate; smoking; stress.

Grants and funding

1. Funder name: S&T Program of Hebei under Grant, China. Grant Number: 20377714D, Grant Recipient: Guimin Hao. 2. Funder name: Hebei Province Medical Science Research Key Project, China. Grant Number: 20211494, Grant Recipient: Jiajia Zhai.