Quality of life in infertile people forced to suspend assisted reproductive technology treatment during the COVID-19 global health emergency

Objective: To evaluate the psycho-physical well-being of people coping with infertility who were forced to suspend ART treatment due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 global health emergency. Methods: The participation to the present study was proposed to patients that were both undergoing/beginning Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment in the Centre of Reproductive Medicine, Sandro Pertini Hospital in Rome, that had to suspend their medical treatment for the COVID-19 outbreak. 30 patients gave their informed consent and filled in the following self-report measures: Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90 R); Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQoL). Results: Through the correlational analysis several significant associations between the quality of life and the other variables investigated emerged. Furthermore, through multiple linear regression analyses both the use coping strategies focusedon emotion and the presence of psychopathological symptoms predicted a lower quality of life during COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The results support the organization of psychological interventions for people facing ART during the COVOD-19 pandemic, focused on the implementation of adequate coping strategies and on the containment of psychopathological symptoms.