Voluntary suspension of medically-assisted reproduction during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: a nationwide internet survey

Abstract

We explored whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related distress was associated with voluntary suspension of medically-assisted reproduction (MAR) treatment from April to May 2020 in Japan. Data for 1,096 candidate respondents were collected from a Japanese nationwide cross-sectional internet survey distributed from August 25 to September 30, 2020. Multiple logistic regression was performed to clarify the association between voluntary suspension of MAR treatment and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FVC-19S) score. High FCV-19S score was inversely associated with voluntary suspension of MAR treatment compared to low FCV-19S score among women (OR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.10–0.84). Age-stratified analyses revealed that low FVC-19S score was significantly associated with voluntary suspension of MAR treatment among women aged < 35 years (OR = 3.86, 95% CI = 1.35–11.0). In contrast, the association between FVC-19S score and voluntary suspension of MAR treatment was reversed and not significant among women aged ≥ 35 years (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.24–1.84). COVID-19-related distress was significantly associated with voluntary suspension of MAR treatment among women aged < 35 years, and this association was reversed but not significant among women aged ≥ 35 years.

Keywords:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• distress
• FVC-19S
• voluntary suspension of MAR treatment

Acknowledgments

KK received a JMWH Bayer Grant (1 million JPY) from 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2019 via the Japan Society for Menopause and Women’s Health. The other authors have no potential conflicts of interest to report.

Disclosure statement

KK received a JMWH Bayer Grant (1 million JPY) from 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2019 via the Japan Society for Menopause and Women’s Health. The other authors have no potential conflicts of interest to report. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data availability statement

The raw data of the ‘COVID-19 and the Society’ Internet Survey in Japan underlying this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grants [grant numbers 17H03589; 19K10671; 19K10446; 18H03107; 18H03062; 19H03860], the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists [grant number 19K19439], the Research Support Program to Apply the Wisdom of the University to tackle COVID-19 Related Emergency Problems, University of Tsukuba, and Health Labour Sciences Research Grant [grant numbers 19FA1005; 19FG2001; 19FA1012] and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development [AMED; grant number 2033648].