Prevalence of lifetime eating disorders in infertile women seeking pregnancy with pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone therapy

Objectives Relationships between weight and fertility are well known. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of lifetime eating disorder (ED) in a sample of infertile women seeking a specific infertility treatment, pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone (pGnRH) treatment, and to compare it to the prevalence of lifetime ED in a sample of infertile women seeking other types of assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments. Design Non-randomized, observational study including infertile female patients. Two-group design including consecutive women treated with GnRH pump (pGnRH) or with other types of ART. Setting Multi-centric infertility centers, France Methods Twenty one consecutive women treated with pGnRH treatment were compared to 21 consecutive women receiving other types of infertility treatment. Diagnosis of ED was based on DSM-IV and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Results Twenty patients (95.2%) from the sample of women treated with pulsatile GnRH treatment and 5 patients (23.8%) from the patients receiving other types of infertility treatment met the criteria of lifetime ED diagnosis (p < 0.000). Conclusion This study highlights the fact that the prevalence of ED is considerably higher in women receiving GnRH pulsatile treatment, when compared to women receiving other kinds of infertility treatment. In our study population ED were under-diagnosed, particularly in women receiving pulsatile GnRH treatment. Fertility clinicians should use reliable diagnostic tools to identify promptly ED in women presenting with hypothalamic amenorrhea and difficulties in conceiving. Level III: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies

Automated summary

This study examined the prevalence of lifetime eating disorders (ED) in infertile women seeking specific treatments and found that women receiving pulsatile GnRH treatment had a significantly higher prevalence of ED compared to those receiving other types of infertility treatments. This suggests the importance of using reliable diagnostic tools to promptly identify ED in women with hypothalamic amenorrhea and conception difficulties.