Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Three IVF Clinics of Jakarta, Indonesia: A Retrospective Qualitative and Quantitative Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Australia

Abstract

Background: Corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic also led to a reduction or even the suspension of elective
health services. These decisions affected in vitro fertilization (IVF) programs worldwide. Therefore, it is essential to map
the readiness of IVF clinics in providing safety in this situation and in the future.
Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective qualitative and quantitative research done in 2021 that involved three IVF
clinics of Jakarta, Indonesia. Those three clinics were government-owned, private-owned, and educational and training
center. The qualitative data of each clinic’s readiness towards COVID-19 was obtained from interviews with the clinics
staff. The quantitative data were collected from the clinics patients’ number and demographic data from 2019-2021 as well
as from COVID-19 databases. Both data sets were analysed descriptively and only for the quantitative analysis Stata version
16 was used.
Results: There were changes in the domiciles and number of patients attending the three clinics. The ratio of patients
from Jakarta increased while patients from outside Java Island decreased. There was a drop in annual patient numbers
in 2020. However, from June 2020 to December 2021, the number of monthly IVF cycles increased significantly by 3.5
cycles per month (P=0.001). There was no association between IVF patients’ attendance numbers and COVID-19 cases
(P=0.785). One of the clinics had a negative pressure operating theatre, which made them more confident in treating
patients with COVID-19 positive and made them even had higher IVF cycles started than the pre-pandemic period.
Conclusion: Those three clinics are prepared in facing COVID-19, as they complied with government regulations. As
the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, the number of patients gradually returned to normal.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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International Journal of Fertility and Sterility
Volume 17, Issue 4
October 2023
Pages 254-258

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