Exercise and fertility study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
EXERT - A Study assessing the habitual physical activity and exercise habits of the patients attending the fertility clinic and their acceptability of a further exercise related study.
IRAS ID
288186
Contact name
Nicola Tempest
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Infertility causes a huge burden on the couples affected, NHS resources and society in general. Changes to lifestyle is a potentially cost effective and less invasive approach to consider as part of routine fertility care. If activity levels can affect fertility, and if providing advice regarding optimizing this habitual behaviour may improve fertility, this may be an attractive therapeutic intervention. However, we currently have no knowledge pertaining to the habitual physical activity and exercise habits of women attending the Liverpool Women`s Hospital (LWH) fertility clinics. Therefore, it is important to firstly investigate current habitual activity levels of women attending fertility clinics at LWH. The data obtained from this questionnaire-based study will allow us to ascertain the baseline pattern of exercise in our population of women and assess their enthusiasm for further exercise-based research. This will enable an informed research design for a more in-depth study examining the relationship between physical activity and fertility. We envisage these women may require tailored exercise advice depending on their BMI, current exercise level and menstrual cycle.
A voluntary, self-reported, anonymous questionnaire will be administered to women attending the fertility clinics at LWH which contain questions on exercise and their willingness to be involved in further research looking at exercise and fertility. We aim to collect 200 completed questionnaires and will carry out an interim analysis and sample size calculation with 75 complete responses. We aim to complete the study within a year.Summary of Results
Infertility affects ~1 in 7 couples with many and varied causes, including lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol and diet. Lifestyle changes are low cost unimposing options to implement in routine fertility care. Information on regular physical activity is not currently enquired from women and no agreement regarding best levels of exercise exists for fertility patients. We aimed to determine exercise habits of women attending the one stop infertility (OSI) clinic. 250 women attending OSI clinic over a period of 9 months, completed a questionnaire collecting data on their exercise habits. The levels of physical activity performed varied widely from vigorous exercise on ≥5 days/week, to no moderate or high intensity activities across the whole week. The majority of women did no structured exercise (72%). These novel data highlight the variations in form type and intensity of exercise women who attend OSI clinics perform. Currently there is no existing evidence and/or guidelines to explicitly inform women attempting to conceive regarding the recommended physical activity levels. Physical activity is a modifiable, affordable, and feasible lifestyle choice that is not currently acknowledged in the fertility setting and has the potential to improve fertility.REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/PR/0458
Date of REC Opinion
7 Oct 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion