Asian ethnicity is associated with reduced pregnancy outcomes after assisted reproductive technology

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether success rates were similar in Asian and Caucasian women undergoing infertility treatment.

Design: Secondary data analysis and multivariate modeling.

Setting: Clinics reporting to the national Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology registry and a university-based clinic.

Patient(s): Caucasian and self-identified Asian infertile women undergoing IVF. The study included 25,843 Caucasian and 1,429 Asian patients from the national registry; 370 Caucasian and 197 Asian patients were included from the site-specific clinic.

Intervention(s): In vitro fertilization.

Main outcome measure(s): Pregnancy rate and live-birth rate.

Result(s): Infertile Asian women differed only minimally from their Caucasian counterparts in baseline characteristics and treatment response. Yet Asian women had a decreased clinical pregnancy rate (odds ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence interval 0.64-0.80) and a decreased live-birth rate (odds ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval 0.61-0.77). Subsequent multivariate analysis demonstrated that Asian ethnicity was an independent predictor of poor outcome.

Conclusion(s): After treatment, infertile Asian women have significantly fewer pregnancies than do Caucasian women. Multivariate analysis indicates that this discrepancy cannot be accounted for by differences in baseline characteristics or by response to current therapeutic interventions.