Effects of standard nurse consultation vs. informative video on anxiety levels in women starting assisted reproductive technology treatments: A randomized controlled trial.

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments are associated with high anxiety levels. We investigated the effects of a standard nurse consultation compared to exhibition of an informative video on anxiety levels in women starting ART treatments. We performed a randomized controlled trial enrolling 100 participants that were allocated to consultation or video on a 1:1 ratio. Anxiety was measured as the State component of the STAI Inventory immediately before and one week after the intervention. There was a significant decrease of STAI-S scores after consultation (median change of -2%, interquartile range -18% to 8%, p < 0.05) and after video watching (median change of -7%, interquartile range -21% to 0%, p < 0.01), with no difference between the two interventions (p = 0.116 for the interaction time x group). These findings suggest that a standard nurse consultation as well as the exhibition of an informative video may contribute to reduce anxiety in women starting ART treatments.