Women who are infertile experience a higher risk of death compared to women without reported infertility issues, according to study results presented at the 2017 American Society of Reproductive Medicine Scientific Congress & Expo in San Antonio, Oct. 28 to Nov. 1.
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia conducted the study. They analyzed data from 78,214 women enrolled in the National Cancer Institute's Prostate Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer screening trial, between 1992 and 2001. These women were followed for 13 years or until they withdrew from the study or died.
Of the 78,214 women, 14.5 percent reported infertility. They study shows at completion of follow up, infertile women were 10 percent more likely to have died when compared to women who did not report fertility problems. Additionally, researchers found, women suffering from infertility have a 20 percent higher risk of cancer-related death.
Infertility was not associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer or death from ovarian or endometrial cancers, but was linked to a 44 percent increased risk of dying from breast cancer.