The U.K. Embryologist Fatigue Study

Completed

• Conditions: Back Pain; Chest Pain; Shortness of Breath; Fatigue; Burnout, Professional; Headache; Dizziness; Stress; Musculoskeletal Pain; Neck Pain

• Registration Number: NCT05708963
• Lead Sponsor: TMRW Life Sciences

Brief Summary

The purpose of the study is to determine physical and mental health issues of U.K. embryologists related to their occupational characteristics, and how workplace fatigue and burnout may affect their quality of life, cynicism, interactions with patients, attention to detail, and lead to human error, the cause of the most severe IVF incidents that often make headlines and result in costly litigation. It will also correlate how the current manual workflows contribute to these health issues, and what measures can be taken to improve both working conditions and embryologists' health, and, therefore, improve patient care.

Detailed Description

Embryologist fatigue surveys conducted in Spain, the United States, and the international survey of embryologists from 85 countries reported that embryologists experience work-related fatigue, stress, and burnout. They named those as contributing factors to decreased efficiency, cynicism, and emotional exhaustion, which, together with having to handle the increasing cycle volume using conventional, manual protocols of cryomanagement, can lead to human error and IVF incidents. The known IVF incidents resulted in lost, damaged, or misplaced embryos and gametes, lawsuits, and reputational damage to patients and providers. In the absence of a "better than" cryopreservation storage solution, many programs just turned to buying more tanks and alarms and/or added expensive staff. The more effective solutions should focus on optimizing workflows by adopting innovation like automation and a digital chain of custody, organizational changes that will lead to a more productive, collaborative, and rewarding work environment, allowing embryologists to focus on patient care, scientific research, innovation, and career planning, and fewer incidents and lawsuits.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study using a web-based survey is to determine physical and mental health issues of U.K. embryologists related to their occupational characteristics, and how workplace fatigue and burnout may affect their quality of life, cynicism, interactions with patients, attention to detail, and lead to human error, the cause of the most severe IVF incidents that often make headlines and result in costly litigation. It will also correlate how the current manual workflows contribute to these health issues, and what measures can be taken to improve both working conditions and embryologists' health, and, therefore, improve patient care.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2023-01
• Study Start: 2023-01-16
• Study First Submitted: 2023-01-23
• Primary Completion: 2023-01-26
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-01-31
• Study First Posted: 2023-02-01
• Study Completion: 2023-02-02
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-02-04
• Last Update Posted: 2023-02-08

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 123

Inclusion Criteria

• complete surveys from embryologists

Exclusion Criteria

• incomplete surveys from embryologists; complete and incomplete surveys from non-embryologists.

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Potential strategies to reduce stress, fatigue, and burnout in U.K. Embryologists	4-6 weeks	The potential strategies, such as organizational changes and automation of cryomanagement protocols, to alleviate physical strain and stress, and to prevent fatigue and burnout that can reduce the embryologist's attention to detail and contribute to IVF errors.
The sociodemographic characteristics of U.K. embryologists	4-6 weeks	The sociodemographic characteristics of U.K. embryologists whose routine work duties include IVF procedures and freezing and cryomanagement of embryos and gametes.
The work-related burnout amount U.K. embryologists	4-6 weeks	The burnout experienced by U.K. embryologists because of their stress and fatigue.
The work-related stress and fatigue among U.K. embryologists	4-6 weeks	The stress and fatigue experienced by U.K. embryologists because of their reliance on manual procedures, the need for a high degree of attention to avoid errors and litigation and depending on human intervention to respond to emergencies in the laboratory.
The work-related health status of U.K. embryologists	4-6 weeks	The overall health status of U.K. embryologists and associated health issues related to their professional duties.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
The correlation between negative health outcomes, manual workload, and error among U.K. embryologists	4-6 weeks	How we can correlate these negative health outcomes and potential for human error they can cause, and link them to the overreliance of embryologists on outdated technology that adds time and stress to their workload.
The underlying causes of work-related physical and mental health issues in U.K. Embryologists	4-6 weeks	The underlying causes of physical strain, stress, fatigue, and burnout in U.K. embryologists related to their occupational characteristics.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

TMRW Life Sciences; 🇺🇸 New York, New York, United States