Predictive factors for clinical pregnancies of poor responders diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria in ovarian stimulation in vitro fertilization (IVF)

ObjectiveTo explore the predictive factors for clinical pregnancies of poor responders diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria in ovarian stimulation in vitro fertilization (IVF).MethodsThe present study included 392 poor responders diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria (392 first poor response cycles and 247 subsequent conventional stimulation cycles) in our IVF center. Binary Logistic regression analysis was used to study the association between possible predictive factors and clinical pregnancy of poor responders in ovarian stimulation IVF.ResultsThe significant predictive factors for clinical pregnancies of poor responders in ovarian stimulation IVF were female age, number of embryos transferred and ovarian stimulation protocol. Female age had the best predictive value for clinical pregnancy of poor ovarian responders.ConclusionPoor responders should be encouraged to attempt further ovarian stimulation IVF treatment as soon as possible because the pregnancy rate decreases with advancing female age. Growth hormone supplementation, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure or assisted hatching seem not be able to prominently improve the pregnancy outcomes of poor responders diagnosed according to the Bologna criteria in ovarian stimulation IVF.