A simple online calculator uses a woman’s individualized metrics to calculate the odds of success for in vitro fertilization.
Launched in early February, the Assisted Reproductive Technology Patient Predictor Tool allows a woman to estimate her chances of success based on her own physiologic characteristics: body mass index, age, pregnancy history, and infertility diagnosis.
The tool, created by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), draws on data compiled since 1992, comprising more than 1 million IVF treatment cycles among more than 300,000 women, according to Dr. Jim Toner, SART president.
“We’ve been trying [as an organization] to come up with a good prediction tool for a number of years,” Dr. Toner said in an interview.
Typically, patients turn to preset tables to get some idea of how well they might do with IVF. But those tables include just a few variables and can’t provide individualized assessments, he said.
“This is much more user friendly than the typical clinical tables. I do think this is now the best tool out there for a patient to get a handle on what her chances for success might be,” Dr. Toner said. ”And I think this is likely to become a top search result for infertile couples who are seeking treatment. It will get heavy use by couples trying to understand their choices.”
What does the tool consist of?