THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THE ASRM GUIDELINES ON FERTILITY PATIENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Objective: To survey fertility patients’ agreement with ASRM recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic and the emotional impact on them Design: An online survey was sent to current fertility patients at a New York City academic fertility practice at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic Materials and Methods: Patient agreement with the ASRM recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic and the emotional impact rated on a Likert scale Ordinal data such as responses rated on a Likert scale were analyzed using Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon testing and responses were compared using Fisher exact or chi-square test as appropriate, with significance at p<0 05 Results: A total of 518 patients completed the survey for a response rate of 17% Fifty percent of respondents had a cycle canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Of those who had a cycle cancelled, 85% of respondents found it to be moderately to extremely upsetting with 22% rating it to be equivalent to the loss of a child There was no difference on the emotional impact based on the type of cycle cancelled Fifty-five percent of patients agreed that diagnostic procedures such as hysterosalpingograms should be cancelled while 36% of patients agreed all fertility cycles should be cancelled (22% unsure, 43% disagreed) Patients were slightly more likely to agree with the ASRM guidelines if they have an upcoming cycle cancelled (p = 0 041) Of all respondents 82% would have preferred to have the option to start a treatment cycle in consultation with their doctor Conclusions: Given the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical, financial and emotional impact of this unprecedented threat cannot be underestimated in our fertility patients