The impacts of telemedicine on assisted reproduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Assisted reproduction technology (ART) has become increasingly popular in recent years due to the rise in infertility rates and the growing number of individuals seeking medical interventions to enhance conception. Telemedicine is being applied into ART in providing remote consultations, monitoring and support for patients. We aimed to evaluate the potential advantages of telemedicine in ART treatment. We compared the success of fertility treatments between telemedicine and in-office care, as well as assessed patient satisfaction with ART through telemedicine. We identified 11 studies, including 4697 patients. The quality assessment revealed an acceptable risk of bias for both randomized controlled trials and observational studies. Telemedicine was comparable to in-person care regarding the pregnancy rate achieved (Odd Ratio 1.02, 95% confidence intervals: 0.83-1.26, p-value = 0.83). The Q-test suggests that all the included studies were homogeneous. Patients who received telemedicine during fertility treatment reported a high level of satisfaction (91%, 95% confidence intervals: 80%-96%). Egger's test confirmed that no publication bias was found. Telemedicine could serve as a complementary tool during fertility treatment to facilitate the patients’ satisfaction and overcome some practical problems without compromising the treatment outcomes. Future studies should continue exploring the potential applications of telemedicine in assisted reproduction.