The Prevalence of Infertility and Loneliness among Women Aged 18-49 Years Who Are Living in Semi-Rural Areas in Western Turkey

BACKGROUND: To determine the correlates and the prevalence of infertility in a group of women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 570 subjects aged 18-49 years in a town of western Turkey between July and August 2012. Women who have inability to become pregnant despite regular sexual intercourse during the last year were considered to be infertile. UCLA Loneliness Scale was used to assess the severity of loneliness. The data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis, Mann Whitney U and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 35.48 ± 8.39 years. The frequency of the infertility in our study was 12.8% (n=73). The prevalence of infertility was higher in those with a history of gynecological disease or gynecologic surgery and in those with menstrual irregularity (p<0.05; for each). The mean score on the UCLA Loneliness Scale was 32.16 ± 9.49 (from 20 to 70). In this study, no difference was found between the level of loneliness and who is responsible for infertility among infertile/fertile women (p≥0.05). Level of loneliness among the women with primary infertility was higher compared to the women with secondary infertility (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of infertility among the women was relatively high. It was concluded that prospective studies are needed in order to expose the relationship between the infertility and the level of loneliness in women.