Assisted reproductive techniques and subsequent risk of asthma and allergic rhinitis in offspring: a nationwide birth cohort study in South Korea

Objective: The relationship between assisted reproductive techniques (ART) and the risk of asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR) is controversial. Thus, we aimed to investigate the relationship between ART and the risk of asthma and AR in a nationwide, large-scale birth cohort.

Patients and Methods: This study utilized the National Health Insurance Service data in South Korea to conduct a nationwide, large-scale, population-based birth cohort. We included all infants born between 2017 and 2018. AR, asthma, food allergies, and atopic dermatitis were defined using the International Classification of Diseases tenth edition codes. Asthma was classified as allergic or non-allergic based on accompanying allergic diseases (AR, food allergy, or atopic dermatitis). Using 1:10 propensity score matching, we compared infants conceived through ART with those conceived naturally (non-ART). After matching, logistic regression was used to compare the hazard ratio for asthma and AR between the two groups.

Results: We included 543,178 infants [male infants, 280,194 (51.38%)]. After matching, 8,925 and 74,229 infants were selected for the ART and non-ART groups, respectively. The ART group showed a decreased risk of asthma in the offspring [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 0.45; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.41-0.48]. Similarly, for AR, being conceived by ART was associated with a decreased risk of AR (aHR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.12-0.37). ART offspring showed a decreased risk of asthma and AR in offspring compared to that observed in non-ART offspring.

Conclusions: Our study offers important insights for clinicians, researchers, and parents regarding the health outcomes of ART-conceived infants and enhances our understanding of ART’s impact on respiratory health.