OCCUPATION AND THE FOLLOW-UP OF INFERTILE COUPLES

Objective: To evaluate the influence of socioeconomic factors on the o utcomes of infertility, including pregnancy, adoption, resolution, and loss to follow-up. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Infertility clinics in 11 teaching hospitals. Patients: Newly register ed couples with infertility of >1 year. Interventions: Demographic, cl inical, and occupational data were recorded at registration, and event s including treatment, pregnancy, adoption, and resolution were record ed during up to 7 years of follow-up. Main Outcome Measures: Time to o utcomes was evaluated by means of proportional hazards analyses with r espect to the occurrence of conception of livebirth, adoption, resolut ion, or loss to follow-up. Results: [1] The clinical predictors of pre gnancy included duration of infertility, pregnancy history, female par tner's age, diagnosis of tubal defect or endometriosis, and treatment; [2] the likelihood of livebirth was 1.38 times greater in partnership s with a male professional; [3] adoption was 1.64 times more likely wi th male professional partners; [4] loss to follow-up was 1.61 times mo re likely if the female partner was unemployed; and [5] the likelihood of resolution was unrelated to occupation or income variables. Conclu sion: Socioeconomic factors, as expressed by occupation, are significa ntly associated with important outcomes among infertile couples.