Introduction: According to WHO data, about 17.5% of adults struggle with fertility
problems, both women and men are equally affected. It can also be observed that over
the past decades there has been a continuous increase in the number of people in need
of infertility treatment, and this trend affects developed/industrialized countries
much more. In these decades, our living conditions have also changed, which can be
linked to the increase in the number of sterile relationships at several points. Objectives:
We know from the literature that being overweight, smoking, alcohol consumption, high
levels of untreated stress and even excessive vitamin consumption can negatively affect
chances of fertility. The purpose of our study was to determine the extent of the
known harmful lifestyle factors exist in couples undergoing infertility treatment.
Methods: In our study, we assessed the lifestyle habits of couples applying for in
vitro fertilization at our institute between 2020 and 2021, and compared our results
descriptively with domestic statistics. 200 couples filled in the questionnaire. The
age of the female respondents was 22-46 years, and the age of the men was 23-66 years.
Results: 45% of women and 79.2% of men are overweight or obese. 24% of women and 54%
of men drink alcohol at least once a week. Every fifth woman (19%) and every fourth
man (26%) smoke regularly. In addition to this, only 21.5% of the respondents exercise
at least 3 times a week. Our survey also covered our patients' experience of stress.
27.8% of the participating women and 12.5% of the men claimed to be depressed, while
41% of the women and 15% of the men were stressed due to the difficulties of having
children. Discussion and conclusion: According to our survey, the lifestyle risk factors
discussed in detail in the literature are also typical in the lives of our patients,
and this is a good indication for health awareness and importance of family planning
education. The above factors may be partly due to cardiovascular and diabetes problems
of the applicants presenting to our institute. Knowing the results, the high consumption
of vegetables and fruits among the patients is surprising, and it is important to
highlight that many of them use some form of vitamin preparation practically every
day. Overall, it can be claimed that our patients have an unfavorable health picture,
which fits the data of domestic statistics.