Human Reproduction vol.14 no.3 pp.698–703, 1999 Intrauterine insemination treatment in subfertility: an analysis of factors affecting outcome

4To whom correspondence should be addressed A total of 811 intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles in which clomiphene citrate/human menopausal gonadotro-phin (HMG) was used for ovarian stimulation were analysed retrospectively to identify prognostic factors regarding treatment outcome. The overall pregnancy rate was 12.6 % per cycle, the multiple pregnancy rate 13.7%, and the miscarriage rate 23.5%. Logistic regression analysis revealed five predictive variables as regards pregnancy: number of the treatment cycle (P J 0.009), duration of infertility (P J 0.017), age (P J 0.028), number of follicles (P J 0.031) and infertility aetiology (P J 0.045). The odds ratios for age <40 years, unexplained infertility aetiology (versus endometriosis) and duration of infertility £6 years were 3.24, 2.79 and 2.33, respectively. A multifollicular ovarian response to clomiphene citrate/HMG resulted in better treatment success than a monofollicular response, and 97 % of the pregnancies were obtained in the first four treatment cycles. The results indicate that clomiphene citrate/HMG/IUI is a useful and cost-effective treatment option in women <40 years of age with infertility duration £6 years, who do not suffer from endometriosis. Key words: clomiphene citrate/human menopausal gonadotro-phin/infertility/intrauterine insemination/prognostic factor