Randomised trial, 2011
Does phone support reduce stress during IVF waiting?
No, the stress scale showed no difference, but women perceived the support as helpful and wanted more.
What they did
131 women undergoing their first IVF cycle were randomly assigned to receive phone calls from social workers (66 women) or standard care (65 women) between embryo transfer and pregnancy testing. Stress was measured with the Perceived Stress Scale on transfer day and 10 days later.
What they found
There was no difference in final stress scores or change in stress between groups. However, 65.9 percent of the intervention group said the study was helpful compared to 21.4 percent of controls. 95.4 percent of the intervention group would recommend support during IVF compared to 78.6 percent of controls.
What it means for you
While phone support did not reduce measurable stress in this study, women felt it was valuable and wanted it. This suggests current stress scales may not capture all benefits, or that support has value beyond stress reduction. Study was well-designed with good sample size.
131
women
65.9% vs 21.4%
found study helpful
95.4% vs 78.6%
would recommend support
About the study
- Original title
- Does emotional support during the luteal phase decrease the stress of in vitro fertilization?
- Authors
- Skiadas CC, Terry K, De Pari M et al.
- Journal
- Fertility and sterility
- Year
- 2011
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 131
- What was tested
- Phone calls from social workers between embryo transfer and pregnancy test
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2011.09.028
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