Psychosocial impact of infertility- a super specialty clinic-based study.
Poster C63, Wednesday, October%2010, 11:30%20am%20-%201:00%20pm, Essex%20Ballroom
Dr Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar1, Dr Rajarshi Neogi2; 1Ghosh Dastidar Institute For Fertility Research, 2West Bengal University of Health Sciences
Abstract details: Objective: As per assessments done by WHO 60 to 80 million couples suffer from infertility affecting 8 -12% of couples worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of infertility on quality of life, psychopathology, and stress of female infertile patients with respect to fertile control patients group . This is one of the first studies to be conducted in the Indian context to assess the quality of life and psychopathology among infertile couples. Methods: Female patients ( suffering from infertility and fertile patients suffering from other obstretics / gynaecology disorders ) visiting the OPD of one of Kolkata's IVF centers were selected by simple random sampling. Respondents completed Bengali standardized versions of MINI, Becks Depression Inventory - to measure intensity of Depression; Becks Anxiety Inventory- to assess anxiety. SF -36 (22) and SCL-90-R - to assess quality of life, Psychopathology and sexual satisfaction. Results: Preliminary findings indicate that infertility in couples has a detrimental effect on mental health and quality of Life. From the our statistical analysis it can be interpreted that there is a significantly increased levels of depression and anxiety levels among the infertile patients in comparison to the fertile patient group. Our results also show that there is statistically significant difference in psychopathology among the infertile patients in comparison to the fertile patient group , there is very significant impairment in quality of life in the infertile group in comparison to the fertile patient group. Conclusion -------------- Infertility is a growing medical problem with 8-12 percent of married couples suffering from this ailment. In the South Asian context this poses as a serious stress factor in our society as majority of couples cannot avail expensive Artificial Reproductive Therapy such as IVF due to high costs and high failure rates. It is imperative that healthcare policy making institutions place greater emphasis on access of infertility treatment to general masses at lower cost.
Topic Area: Public Policy