Effects of exposure to cigarette smoke on the ovarian response to ovarian stimulation in infertile couples referred to the Isfahan Reproductive Fertility Center during 2007-2008

BACKGROUND: The first step and a necessary prerequisite for a successful treatment of infertility is an adequate ovarian response to ovarian stimulation and it is a major challenge for both patients and health system. Therefore, it is very important to determine the factors related to ovarian response failure. One of the peripheral factors considered in the recent studies on infertility, is exposure to cigarette smoke. This study compares the ovarian responses to ovarian stimulation in infertile couples exposed and not exposed to cigarette smoke. METHODS: It is a retrospective cohort study on 144 infertile women referred to the Isfahan Reproductive Fertility Center in 2007. Data were collected using a questionnaire, patient’s medical files, tape measure and scale. Content validity and test re-test were used for validity and reliability and chi square and T test used for data analysis. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. RESULTS: Findings showed that exposure to cigarette smoke increases poor response to ovulation induction (p = 0.001) in women under assisted reproduction treatment. However, it doesn't increase the number of injections necessary for ovarian stimulation. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, volunteers for the assisted reproduction techniques should be educated about the harmful effects of exposure to cigarette smoke on fertility. Also, there should be plans to increase the public awareness about the harmful effects of cigarette especially on fertility.