A health promotion behavior intervention for women with polycystic ovary syndrome experiencing infertility: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention based on the behavior change wheel (BCW) in improving health promotion behaviors, self-efficacy, and pregnancy rates among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) experiencing infertility.

METHODS

This randomized controlled trial included 66 PCOS patients with infertility recruited from the gynecology outpatient department of a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou, China. Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 33), which received a 12-week health promotion behavior intervention based on the BCW, or the control group (n = 33), which received usual care. Outcomes were measured at baseline and immediately after the intervention.

RESULTS

A total of 62 participants were included in the full analysis set, and 56 in the per-protocol set. Health promotion behaviors improved significantly from pre-intervention to post-intervention in both groups (p < 0.05). At post-intervention, the experimental group showed significantly greater improvement compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Self-efficacy was also significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group at post-intervention (p < 0.05). However, the difference in pregnancy rate between the two groups was not statistically significant (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The BCW-based intervention program showed promise in improving health promotion behaviors and self-efficacy among PCOS patients with infertility over 12 weeks, although its effect on pregnancy rate was not statistically significant. Longer-term studies are warranted to evaluate sustained benefits and reproductive outcomes.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://www.chictr.org.cn, identifier (ChiCTR2500103129).