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. 2012 Aug;98(2):406-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.05.012. Epub 2012 Jun 13.

Race matters: a systematic review of racial/ethnic disparity in Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology reported outcomes

Melissa F Wellons  1 , Victor Y Fujimoto, Valerie L Baker, Debbie S Barrington, Diana Broomfield, William H Catherino, Gloria Richard-Davis, Mary Ryan, Kim Thornton, Alicia Y Armstrong
Affiliations

Race matters: a systematic review of racial/ethnic disparity in Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology reported outcomes

Melissa F Wellons et al. Fertil Steril. 2012 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To systematically review the reporting of race/ethnicity in Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) Clinic Outcome Reporting System (CORS) publications.

Design: Systematic review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology of literature published in PubMed on race/ethnicity that includes data from SART CORS.

Setting: Not applicable.

Patient(s): Not applicable.

Intervention(s): In vitro fertilization cycles reported to SART.

Main outcome measure(s): Any outcomes reported in SART CORS.

Result(s): Seven publications were identified that assessed racial/ethnic disparities in IVF outcomes using SART data. All reported a racial/ethnic disparity. However, more than 35% of cycles were excluded from analysis because of missing race/ethnicity data.

Conclusion(s): Review of current publications of SART data suggests significant racial/ethnic disparities in IVF outcomes. However, the potential for selection bias limits confidence in these findings, given that fewer than 65% of SART reported cycles include race/ethnicity. Our understanding of how race/ethnicity influences ART outcome could be greatly improved if information on race/ethnicity was available for all reported cycles.

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