PERCEIVED STRESS, INSOMNIA SEVERITY, AND THE IMPACT OF EVENTS AMONG IN VITRO FERTILIZATION (IVF) PATIENTS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) PANDEMIC

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the Perceived Stress Scale, Insomnia Severity Index, and Impact of Events Scale-Revised scores of patients at a fertility clinic in Manhattan during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic Design: Surveys were administered to 220 patients at a fertility clinic in Manhattan during the COVID-19 pandemic The surveys included a 7-item questionnaire on patient demographics, the Perceived Stress Scale (10-item questionnaire), the Insomnia Severity Index (7-item questionnaire), and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R, 21-item questionnaire) Materials and Methods: Online surveys were administered to 220 patients at Generation Next Fertility (GNF), located in Manhattan Percentages of patients who met different thresholds along the Perceived Stress Scale, Insomnia Severity Index, and the IES-R questionnaires were calculated We excluded one question from the standard 22-item IES-R questionnaire: “During the past seven days with respect to (insert event) have you felt yourself acting or feeling like you were back at that time?” All patients who did not respond to the Perceived Stress Scale, Insomnia Severity Index, and/or IES-R questionnaires were excluded from the respective analyses Multiple linear regression was run to determine if surpassing a high school education and being unemployed were correlated with higher Perceived Stress Scale scores A p-value of less than 0 05 was considered as statistically significant Results: According to the results of the Perceived Stress Scale, 66 9% of patients at the Manhattan-based fertility clinic self-reported experiencing moderate stress during the COVID-19 pandemic 21 9% and 11 2% of patients perceived low and high stress, respectively There was no statistically significant relationship between the demographic variables of not surpassing a high school education and being unemployed and the perceived stress levels of IVF patients during the COVID-19 pandemic Additionally, the results of the Insomnia Severity Index survey demonstrated that 43 7% of patients self-reported no clinically significant insomnia, 39 5% self-reported subthreshold insomnia, 15 6% self-reported clinical insomnia of moderate severity, and 1 2% self-reported severe clinical insomnia Furthermore, the results of the IES-R survey showed that 52 1% of patients self-reported scores high enough to indicate that post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) is of clinical concern, 27 1% of patients self-reported scores at the cut-off level or higher for a probable diagnosis of PTSD, and 18 8% of patients self-reported scores that are high enough to suppress immune system functioning (for even 10 years after the COVID-19 pandemic) Conclusions: According to surveys administered at an IVF clinic in Manhattan, the majority of the patients self-reported moderate stress, no clinically significant levels of insomnia, and PTSD levels of clinical concern during the COVID-19 pandemic Not surpassing a high school education and being unemployed did not influence patients’ perceived stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic References: Christianson, Steven, and Joan Marren "The impact of event scale-revised (IES-R) " Medsurg Nurs 21 5 (2012): 321-322 Cohen, Sheldon, T Kamarck, and R Mermelstein "Perceived stress scale " Measuring stress: A guide for health and social scientists 10 (1994) Morin, Charles M , et al "The Insomnia Severity Index: psychometric indicators to detect insomnia cases and evaluate treatment response " Sleep 34 5 (2011): 601-608