title: Disentangling causal paths between obesity and in vitro fertilization outcomes: an intractable problem?
abstract: Research questions should be appropriate for the available data. Disentangling causal paths between obesity and in vitro fertilization outcomes may be an intractable problem, but other research questions of clinical importance can be addressed through appropriate study designs and analytic methods.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. howardsp@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Penelope P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Howards
authors.forename: Maureen A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cooney
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D010064:Embryo Implantation; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome