DIETARY AND/OR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INTERVENTIONS IN WOMEN WITH OVERWEIGHT OR OBESITY PRIOR TO FERTILITY TREATMENT: PROTOCOL FOR A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANT DATA META-ANALYSIS
The Venus-IPD group presents a protocol to establish a meta-analysis to understand the effectiveness and safety of dietary and/or physical activity interventions in overweight or obese women prior to beginning fertility treatments. Data will be gathered from retrospective cohort studies that involved dietary and/or physical activity interventions and compared outcomes from patients who received standard advice concerning healthy lifestyle to patients without intervention. Quasi-RCTs and women who underwent bariatric surgery are to be excluded. Studies will be identified from the following databases: MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). Leading authors from the included studies will receive a list of requested data. The main analysis will be based on the intention-to-treat principle. Results from this study have the potential to advise clinicians on the value of postposing fertility treatment for overweight or obese women to receive dietary and/or physical activity interventions to improve reproductive, maternal, and perinatal outcomes.