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Professional and Personal Development

(265) Infertility and Pregnancy in the Female Otolaryngologist: A Comparison Study

Monday, October 2, 2023
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM East Coast USA Time
Has Audio

    Presenting Author(s)

  • BA

    BRITTANY T. ABUD, MD

    Otolaryngology resident
    University of Illinois College of Medicine At Chicago
    CHICAGO, IL, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Ruby Chien, MD

    Resident
    University of California, Irvine
    Orange, California, United States

    • Presenting Author(s)

  • Karla M. Sintigo Monterroza

    MS4
    University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
    Chicago, Illinois, United States

    • Senior Author(s)

  • Heather M. Weinreich, MD

    Assistant Professor
    University of Illinois at Chicago
    Chicago, IL, United States

  • Julia L. Kerolus, MD

    Adjunct Assistant Professor
    University of Illinois at Chicago
    Chicago, Illinois, United States

Disclosure(s):
BRITTANY T. ABUD, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Ruby Chien, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Karla M. Sintigo Monterroza: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Heather M. Weinreich, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Julia L. Kerolus, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.


Introduction: Female physicians are at an increased risk for infertility and pregnancy complications when compared to the general population, and female surgeons are at even higher risk. We aimed to examine the difference between surgical (SP) and non-surgical physicians (NSP) regarding infertility, obstetric history, maternity leave, and breastfeeding experiences with an emphasis on female otolaryngologists.

Methods: A REDCap survey was developed to anonymously capture data on obstetric history, fertility, maternity leave, and breastfeeding. Participants include those who were biologically female at birth, graduated from a MD/DO school, were in or completed an ACGME-accredited residency program, and are board-certified or board-eligible. The survey was distributed in October 2021 to members of Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) and American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA). Descriptive statistics were performed and mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using student's t-test with α = 0.05.

Results: Responses from 470 participants were included in the analysis. 60% of participants were SPs, half of which were general surgeons (34.5% of participants). The mean age when first attempting pregnancy was 31.9 years old for SPs and 30.2 years old for NSPs (Mean Diff:1.7 yrs; CI:[0.78;2.65]). The overall average infertility rate was 16.0%. More SPs were diagnosed with infertility compared to NSPs (18.9% vs. 10.8% p< 0.05), sought infertility treatment (18.2% vs. 9%, p< 0.05), and reported at least one miscarriage (35.4% vs 27.8%, p< 0.05). For female otolaryngologists (n=28), 21.4% were diagnosed with infertility, 100% of which sought intervention, and 38.9% had at least one miscarriage. Average maternity leave was 7.5 weeks (SD=5.42).

Conclusions: Female surgeons, particularly otolaryngologists, have a higher rate of infertility and miscarriage. Female physicians need better support in terms of breastfeeding and maternity leave. The discourse must be expanded to create policy changes regarding maternity leave, lactation resources, and access to fertility treatments during training.