Lifestyle intervention before and during fertility treatment in women with obesity or with overweight and PCOS—a randomized controlled trial (RCT)
Primary result · Live-birth rateResult — go to the resultRelative risk 1.24 95% CI 0.81–1.90Authors' conclusion
Compared with usual care, a lifestyle intervention alone for 6 months and then combined with fertility treatments did not increase the 18-month rate of pregnancies leading to a live birth, but significantly increased natural pregnancy rates, potentially reducing the need for costly assisted reproduction in this population.
Study context
- Population
- Women aged 18 to 40 years with infertility and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m², or ≥27 kg/m² with PCOS), excluding those unlikely to conceive naturally; academic fertility clinic
- Participants
- 127 women
- Comparison
- 6-month lifestyle intervention before adding fertility treatments vs usual fertility care
- Intervention group (IG)n = 63
- Control group (CG)n = 64reference
- Primary endpoint
- Rate of live birth conceived within 18 months of randomization
- Follow-up
- 18 months
Methodological detailssingle academic fertility clinic
- Single academic fertility clinic
Primary result
Live-birth rate
Relative risk
1.24
95% CI 0.81–1.90
By group
IGvs CG
RR 1.24 (95% CI 0.81–1.90)
As reported in the abstract
Further findings
| Outcome | IG | CG | RR (CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical pregnancy rate | 52.4% | 37.5% | 1.40 (0.94–2.07) | |
| Natural pregnancy rate | 27.0% | 12.5% | 2.16 (1.01–4.64) | |
| 0.20.5125Relative risk (log scale) |
| Outcome | IG | CG | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight change · 6 monthsIG lost more weight | −3.21% ± 4.73% | −0.40% ± 3.66% | P = 0.003 |
| Waist circumference change · 6 months | −2.62 ± 4.46 cm | −0.23 ± 3.81 cm | P = 0.01 |
Original publication
Lifestyle intervention before and during fertility treatment in women with obesity or with overweight and PCOS—a RCT. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Published 16 December 2025. doi:10.
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