Signe Altmäe, Theodora Kunovac Kallak, Jonatan R. Ruiz, Lana Salih Joelsson, Francisco B. Ortega, Kjell Wånggren, Siret Läänelaid, Andres Salumets, Julius Hreinsson, Anneli Stavreus-Evers, Ruth Kalda, [Läänelaid,S, Kalda,R] Institute of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of Tartu, Ravila,Tartu, Estonia. [Läänelaid,S] Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Tartu Health Care College, Nooruse, Tartu, Estonia. [Ortega,FB, Ruiz,JR] Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Granada, Carretera de Alfacar, Granada, Spain. [Ortega,FB, Ruiz,JR] Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, NEO, Huddinge, Sweden. [Kunovac Kallak,T, Joelsson,L, Wånggren,K, Stavreus-Evers,A] Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. [Hreinsson,J] Minerva Fertility Clinic, Kålsängsgränd, Uppsala, Sweden. [Salumets,A] Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, L. Puusepa, Tartu, Estonia. [Salumets,A, Altmäe,S] Competence Centre on Health Technologies, Teaduspargi, Tartu, Estonia. [Salumets,A] Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Riia, Tartu, Estonia. [Altmäe,S] Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain. [Altmäe,S] Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Parque Tecnológico de la Salud, Granada, Spain, This research was funded by Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (grant IUT34-16), Enterprise Estonia (grant EU48695), the European Commission Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement 692065 (project WIDENLIFE), Horizon 2020 innovation (ERIN) (grant no. EU952516) of the European Commission, MSCA-RISE-2015 project MOMENDO (grant no 691058), and University of Tartu base funding, Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) and European Regional Development Fund (FEDER): grants RYC-2016-21199 and ENDORE SAF2017-87526-R, FEDER/Junta de Andalucía-Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento: MENDO (B-CTS-500-UGR18), and by the University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigación 2016-Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES)-and Plan Propio de Investigación 2018-Programa Contratos-Puente, and the Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades, European Regional Development Funds (ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR), and and Karolinska Institutet Foundation grants (Ref: 2011FoBi1184).
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of physical activity (PA) with assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment and pregnancy outcomes among couples seeking infertility treatment. Methods: This prospective cohort study was carried out among 128 infertile individuals (64 couples), entering the infertility clinic for ART procedures. Baseline PA (before entering any treatment) was assessed using accelerometry for both women and men. For every couple the infertility treatment outcomes were recorded. Results: The couples that required invasive ART procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) spent less time in vigorous PA (-73 min/week per couple, woman + man) than those couples who became spontaneously pregnant after entering the study (p = 0.001). We observed no significant associations between the time spent in physical activities and positive pregnancy test or live birth. Conclusions: Our results do not support a positive nor negative relation between the time the couples spent in physical activities and the chances of getting pregnant or having a baby among patients seeking infertility treatment. However, couples undergoing invasive ART procedures did less vigorous PA than couples that became spontaneously pregnant, suggesting that PA may interfere with their reproductive health., Ministry of Education and Research, Estonia IUT3416, Enterprise Estonia EU48695, European Commission Horizon 2020 research and innovation program 692065, Horizon 2020 innovation (ERIN) of the European Commission EU952516, MSCA-RISE-2015 project MOMENDO 691058, University of Tartu, Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) RYC2016-21199 ENDORE SAF2017-87526-R, European Commission RYC2016-21199 ENDORE SAF2017-87526-R, FEDER/Junta de Andalucía - Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento: MENDO B-CTS-500-UGR18, University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigación 2016-Excellence action: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigación 2016-Excellence action: Plan Propio de Investigación 2018-Programa Contratos-Puente, Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades, European Regional Development Funds SOMM17/6107/UGR, Karolinska Institutet 2011FoBi1184