P-765 Consequences of not complying with human resources guidelines in in vitro fertilization laboratories.
Authors: Ochando Sánchez I , Sánchez Núñez M T , Torres Hernández J , Fernández Berrocal P 
Published: June 2023

Study question

The objective was to analyze the consequences on the health of Clinical Embryologists for not complying with the scientific societies’ human resources guidelines in Spain.

Summary answer

Not complying with the recommendations of the human resources guidelines lead to a worse quality of working life and worse physical health of Clinical Embryologists.

What is known already

Few previous studies show that Clinical Embryologists are one of the health professionals who suffers more stress at work, especially women (López-Lería et al, 2014). Many scientific societies (ASEBIR, ESHRE, etc) have made several human resources guidelines trying to ensure proper functioning of the in vitro fertilization laboratories. In Spain the Quality Interest Group of ASEBIR, made a calculator (Cassandra) to help calculate the best number of Clinical Embryologists per cycle is need in a clinic.

They established that the correct proportion is one Embryologist per 102 cycles.

Study design, size, duration

The study was carried out between March and November 2021. We asked about sociodemographic variables, physical health and we used the CVP 35 test to analyze the quality of work life. Regarding physical health we asked about lower limb pain, upper limb pain, neck pain and back pain. In relation with the CVP35 test, it includes 3 dimensions: workload, manager’s support and intrinsic motivation.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

A survey was sent to 870 active workers (Clinical Embryologists), members of ASEBIR. The survey was completed by 184 subjects. The data was separated into two groups: clinics that had at least one Embryologist per 102 cycles and the clinics that did not. The data was analyzed using statistical program SPSS.20. Most of the study variables did not follow a normal distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) and for the comparison of means, the U-Mann-Whitney test was used.

Main results and the role of chance

In order to have a better comparison, all data were normalized from 0 to 100 (Arbitrary Units). Regarding to the physical health, the data reflects a mean of 27.52 AU of lower limb pain, 35.78 AU of upper limb pain, 59.08 AU of neck pain and 62.39 AU of back pain. In relation to the CVP35 results, the mean of workload was 65.1 NU, the mean of manager’s support was 53.69 AU and the mean of intrinsic motivation was 78.14 AU.

Only the 41.7% (n = 75) of the clinics complied with ASEBIR’s recommendations. We observed that the workers of the clinics that did not comply with ASEBIR’s recommendations had lower physical health. They had increased lower limb pain (p = 0.002), upper limb pain (p = 0.036), neck pain (p = 0.02) and back pain (p = 0.036).

Regarding quality of work life, we observed that the workers of the clinics that did not comply with the recommendations had lower quality of work life. They had decreased manageŕs support (p = 0.047) and increased workload (p = 0.004), despite having similar intrinsic motivation (p &gt; 0,050).

Limitations, reasons for caution

The surveyed subjects belong to Spain and their legal and labor conditions. We must be cautious when extrapolating the results to other countries.

Wider implications of the findings

Not complying with the recommendations of human resources guidelines leads to worse physical health and worse quality of work life. It would be advisable to adopt actions in order to force the clinics to comply with the recommendations to avoid a bad professional quality of life in the IVF laboratories.

Trial registration number

Not applicable