PRACTICE OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION IN ARAR, NORTHERN SAUDI ARABIA

Background: In-vitro fertilization (IVF) is a complex series of technologically driven procedures used to treat infertility or genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child. Objectives: to show the prevalence and determinants of IVF in Arar city, Northern Saudi Arabia. Methods: a cross sectional study was conducted among 286 of pregnant mothers attending the Maternity and children Hospital in Arar city, during the period from 1 May to 31 September 2018. The data collected using a predesigned questionnaire. The questionnaire covered the following items; Socio-demographic characteristics of the studied pregnant mothers as age, education, working status and parity. Current history of IVF, history of previous abortion, type of pregnancy (twins or single), Chronic hypertension, DM and smoking. We utilized the SPSS program (version 16) to analyze the study data. The X2 test used as a test of significance, and differences considered significant at P value less than 0.05. Results: The study includes 286 pregnant mothers, the majority of them were 25-35 years and 22% of cases more than 35 years. The study reported that 3.8% of studied pregnant women undergo In vitro fertilization. We found insignificant relations between In vitro fertilization and working status, education, age, parity and BMI (P > 0.05). While there was significant relation with previous abortion (P=0.009) which found in 72.7% of In vitro fertilization cases, smoking and type of pregnancy was single in 63.6% and twins in 36.4% of IVF cases (p=0.008). There were non-significant correlations between In vitro fertilization and DM and chronic hypertension and 81.8% of cases doing pregnancy follow up and 54.5% get nutritional education. Conclusion: The current study in Arar, KSA reported that 3.8% of the studied pregnant women undergo In vitro fertilization, which indicates considerable prevalence of IVF in the area. Key words: In vitro Fertilization, Prevalence, Factors, Arar, Northern Saudi Arabia