The following is a summary of “Perceived stress and markers of ovarian reserve among subfertile women,” published in the June 2023 issue of Reproductive BioMedicine Online by Mínguez-Alarcón et al.

In subfertile women, is self-reported psychological stress associated with ovarian reserve markers? Observational study of women (n = 520) seeking fertility care at the Massachusetts General Hospital between 2005 and 2019 and enrolled in the Environment and Reproductive Health study. Women completed the validated PSS4 abbreviated version, which measures psychological stress. Markers of ovarian reserve included AFC and circulating serum levels of day-3 FSH, with AMH assessed in a subset (n = 185) of participants. 

Higher total PSS4 scores were negatively related to AFC and serum AMH concentrations. Adjusted analyses of age, BMI, race, smoking, education, physical activity, and infertility diagnosis type. Women in the second and third stress tertiles had a lower AFC (13.3, 95% CI 12.7 to 13.8; and 13.5, 95% CI 13.0 to 14.1) than women in the lowest stress tertile (14.3, 95% CI 13.8 to 14.9, both P 0.05). Women in the second and third tertiles of total PSS4 scores had lower mean serum AMH than women in the lowest tertile (2.99, 95% CI 2.24 to 3.74) and (2.99, 95% CI 2.22 to 3.76) versus (3.94, 95% CI 3.94 to 4.64). 

These associations varied by several socioeconomic factors and were observed among women of younger, minority race, college-educated, and low-income (less than $100,000 per year). More significant perceived stress was inversely related to AFC and serum AMH levels. Various socioeconomic factors varied these associations.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S147264832300069X