The digital PREconceptional Lifestyle assistant in FErtility treatment - a trustworthy toolbox (PRE-LIFE-STUDY)

Fertility related problems occur in 9% of the Flemish population and cause considerate emotional and economic burden. Improving success and reducing the concomitant distress and discontinuation of fertility treatment is one of the most important research priorities in fertility care. Increasing evidence suggests that lifestyle factors (including mental well-being, physical activity and diet) are modifiable factors that contribute to improving the success rate and management of burden in fertility treatment. Nevertheless, no preconceptional lifestyle support intervention is routinely available in the fertility setting. Mobile health is a promising method as it is an effective method to promote healthy behaviour change, matches to the time demands of young couples and has the potential for broad dissemination. Therefore, the aim of this project is to evaluate if adding an application based preconceptional lifestyle intervention ‘PRE-LIFE app' to standard care in couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) increases their cumulative ongoing pregnancy rate and decreases their ART discontinuation rate. In addition, we will evaluate if the ‘PRE-LIFE app’ affects lifestyle behaviour. The ‘PRE-LIFE app’ will include tailored advice, monitoring, interaction and feedback on mental wellbeing, physical activity and diet and will be provided in the blended format of a mobile application in combination with a ‘just in time’ coach. The ‘PRE-LIFE app’ is based on our previous research but will be tailored to the needs, perceptions and preferences of the target population by using the concepts of User Experience Research. The efficacy of the ‘PRE-LIFE app’ will be evaluated in a multicentre randomised controlled study in couples undergoing ART. We hypothesize that the intervention will induce a behavioural change, reduce ART discontinuation rate, and ultimately enhance the chance of a healthy pregnancy and live birth.