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Effectiveness of psychosocial group intervention for reducing anxiety in women undergoing in vitro fertilization: a randomized controlled study.

Chan CH, Ng EH, Chan CL, Ho , Chan TH

Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. chancelia@hku.hk

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the Eastern Body-Mind-Spirit (EBMS) group intervention on anxiety-reduction of Chinese women undergoing IVF. DESIGN: Randomized controlled study. SETTING: Tertiary assisted reproduction unit. PARTICIPANT(S): Two hundred twenty-seven women undergoing their first cycle of IVF treatment. INTERVENTION(S): The intervention group (n = 69) received four sessions of EBMS group counseling, while the control group (n = 115) did not receive any intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. RESULT(S): Compared with the control group, the intervention group had a significant drop in State Anxiety mean score following intervention. A comparable number of embryos were transferred for each group, but there was a nonsignificant trend of a higher pregnancy rate in the intervention group. CONCLUSION(S): The Eastern Body-Mind-Spirit group intervention approach effectively reduces the anxiety level of women undergoing IVF treatment.

Published 5 April 2006 in Fertil Steril, 85(2): 339-46.
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