JBRA Assisted Reproduction 2025;29(Suppl.2 SBRA 2025):200
Poster Presentation
29^th Annual Congress of the SBRA. São Paulo/SP - Brazil, 2025
doi: 10.5935/1518-0557.20263885

P-188.QuestNOVA: An Innovative Digital Tool for Nutritional Assessment in Infertile Couples Undergoing Assisted Reproduction

Júlia Prauchner Castilhos¹, Joselaine Sturmer², Elisa Weirich Braido¹, Alvaro Petracco², Mariangela Badalotti², Marta Ribeiro Hentschke²

¹ Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - Porto Alegre – RS – Brasil
² Fertilitat Centro de Medicina Reprodutiva – Porto Alegre - RS – Brasil

Objective: To perform a narrative literature review on the potential use of the Food Frequency Questionnaire from the QuestNOVA platform (QFA-NOVA) as a tool to assess the nutritional profile of infertile couples.
Methods: This narrative review was conducted in PubMed, SciELO, and LILACS, focusing on studies from the last five years. Two strategies were used: (1) "nutrition screening" AND "infertility" to identify validated assessment tools; and (2) "ultra-processed foods," "infertility," "ART/IVF," and "endocrine disruptors" to explore dietary and reproductive associations. Sixteen eligible articles were included. Technical information from the QuestNOVA platform, developed by NUPENS/USP, was integrated to contextualize its application in fertility research.
Results: Nutritional monitoring of couples attempting pregnancy is essential but still faces significant challenges, mainly due to the lack of standardized and validated tools for dietary assessment in this context. Current practice often relies on non- validated, self-developed questionnaires, limiting comparability across studies and hindering the advancement of research in the field of diet and fertility. Internationally, the need for reliable screening instruments has been emphasized, as illustrated by a recent Canadian study that highlighted the absence of validated tools specifically designed to identify nutritional risk factors for infertility. The authors of that study proposed a self-administered screening instrument incorporating parameters such as BMI, medical history, dietary quality, and lifestyle factors known to influence reproductive health. In this scenario, the QuestNOVA platform emerges as a promising and original proposal, integrating digital technology with the NOVA food classification system to evaluate both the quantity and quality of dietary intake. Notably developed and validated by the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Group (NUPENS) at the University of São Paulo (USP) in 2024, the QuestNOVA platform comprises three distinct tools, Screener-NOVA, QFA-NOVA, and R24h-NOVA, allowing researchers to select the most appropriate instrument according to the study objectives. The NOVA classification categorizes foods according to their degree of processing, from unprocessed (group 1) and processed culinary ingredients (group 2), to processed (group 3) and ultra-processed foods (group 4). Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have been widely associated with exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as bisphenol A and phthalates, which seems to interfere in hormonal regulation. By applying a standardized, evidence-based framework to assess food processing levels, QuestNOVA offers a structured and potentially scalable approach to dietary assessment in fertility-related contexts, with potential applications in both clinical and research settings.
Conclusion: Given the growing evidence linking diet, particularly the consumption of ultra-processed foods, to reproductive outcomes, the need for validated and standardized nutritional assessment tools in fertility care is increasingly evident. Without such instruments, both clinical practice and research remain limited in their ability to accurately identify modifiable dietary risk factors and monitor the impact of targeted interventions. By integrating digital innovation with the evidence-based NOVA food classification system, the QuestNOVA platform represents a relevant step toward bridging this methodological gap. Its structured approach enables a detailed characterization of dietary patterns, with potential benefits for individualized patient care and large-scale studies. While further validation and testing in real-world patient populations are necessary, QuestNOVA holds promise for advancing the scientific understanding of the relationship between nutrition and fertility, ultimately contributing to improved reproductive outcomes.