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Researchers at Monash University have identified the barriers people suffering from infertility face to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, giving them the confidence to improve their skills and improve their overall health. proposed practical solutions to improve
Researchers found that people with infertility perceive a lack of knowledge and opportunities about, which prevents them from maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise.
- Evidence-based diet and exercise strategies
- Support and resources to strengthen your self-management skills
- The burden on mental health of living with infertility.
A healthy lifestyle is recommended in multiple infertility clinical guidelines, and this is the first review to focus on the unique challenges faced by infertility patients. This is used to develop lifestyle interventions to improve health outcomes.
was announced on Latest information on human reproductionA systematic review assessed the perspectives of more than 4,300 health professionals and infertility patients.
Infertility, defined as the failure to achieve clinical pregnancy after 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse, affects up to 186 million people worldwide.
Co-author Associate Professor Lisa Moran, Registered Dietitian and Head of the Healthy Lifestyles Research Program at the Monash Center for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI), said the impact of undergoing infertility treatment can lead to a healthy lifestyle. He said the challenge of staying in style could get even worse. . This meant that it was important to equip people with the skills to feel empowered.
Associate Professor Moran said: “Dealing with infertility treatment is a difficult journey and this research shows that people with infertility who want to live a healthy lifestyle want to feel like they can do it. I realized what he was thinking.” “Self-management skills increase confidence, so incorporating skills such as goal-setting and problem-solving is key to successful lifestyle changes.”
“Support from healthcare professionals is also very important, and we find that healthcare professionals enjoy motivating and helping patients achieve their goals.”
Barriers impacting opportunities for lifestyle improvement include lack of time to exercise and lack of high-quality, evidence-based information to guide dietary changes.
Co-author and registered dietitian Dr. Steph Cowan believes that involving partner support, providing free or low-cost resources, and supporting telehealth delivery can expand opportunities and help some people. He said he could.
“Telemedicine can alleviate some of the logistical problems and also reduce the anxiety of people going to a fertility clinic in person,” Dr. Cowan said. “Alternatively, for those receiving in-person care, providing evidence-based information that is easy to take home means people don't have to choose between health, time and money. ”
First author and Ph.D. Candidate Sophia Torkel said infertility has serious and diverse mental health consequences and can affect individuals and couples in different ways. The strain on your mental health from living with infertility can make it difficult to make even small changes to your lifestyle behaviors.
“We found that reframing a healthy lifestyle as a self-care strategy is an important mental health strategy that promotes behavior change,” she said.
The findings will be incorporated into the new Ask Fertility app being developed by the Center for Excellence in Women's Reproductive Health and MCHRI. This adds to the suite of Ask Apps that includes Ask Early Menopause (6000+ users) and Ask PCOS (61,000+ users from 195 countries).
Expected to be released later this year, the Ask Fertility app will help women with infertility find the highest quality information from leading experts for self-care, self-management and shared decision-making. Tools included.
Associate Professor Moran said: “We hope that, together with the recommendations of international guidelines, the results of this study will help improve the health status of infertile patients and contribute to achieving better fertility outcomes. ” he said.
For more information:
Sophia Torkel et al., Barriers and enablers of a healthy lifestyle in patients with infertility: A mixed methods systematic review, Latest information on human reproduction (2024). DOI: 10.1093/humupd/dmae011