The influence of female and male body mass index on live births after assisted reproductive technology treatment: a nationwide register-based cohort study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the independent and combined associations between female and male body mass index (BMI) on the probability of achieving a live birth after treatments with in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) under adjustment for relevant covariates.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Setting: Danish national registers.

Patient(s): Patients with permanent residence in Denmark receiving IVF or ICSI treatment with use of autologous oocytes from January 1, 2006, to September 30, 2010.

Intervention(s): None.

Main outcome measure(s): Live birth. Analyses were adjusted for age and smoking at treatment initiation and results stratified by BMI groups and presented by IVF/ICSI treatment.

Result(s): In total, 12,566 women and their partners went through 25,191 IVF/ICSI cycles with 23.7% ending in a live birth. Overweight and obese women with regular ovulation had reduced odds of live birth (adjusted OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.79-0.99 and adjusted OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.63-0.90, respectively) compared with normal-weight women. IVF-treated couples with both partners having BMI ≥25 kg/m(2) had the lowest odds of live birth (adjusted OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.48-1.11) compared with couples with BMI <25 kg/m(2). BMI showed no significant effect on chance of live birth after ICSI.

Conclusion(s): Increased female and male BMI, both independently and combined, negatively influenced live birth after IVF treatments. With ICSI, the association with BMI was less clear.