A comparison of general health and coping strategies in fertile and infertile women in Yazd

Background: Infertility affects various aspects of personality and psychology, familial and career performances, and relationships. Studies show that stress, anxiety, life dissatisfaction, and other psychological problems follow infertility. Infertility issue, its tests and remedy are stressful and may lead to anxiety and depression and have destructive effects on couple relationships. Objective: The present study was done in order to comparison general health and coping strategies in fertile and infertile women. Materials and Methods: This is an analytic cross-sectional study and was done through random sampling on 70 fertile women and 70 infertile women who visited Yazd’s clinics. The age range of participants was between 20-40 years. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and Ways of coping questionnaire (WOCQ) were filled by women who were agreed to participate in the study, following some explanations about aims and ways of doing the study. In the next step, data were analyzed through statistic methods and independent t-test. We considered a significant level p<0.05 in all tests. Results: The results indicated a significant difference (p<0.05) with respect to general health in two groups, but no significant difference was found in problem-centered and emotion centered coping strategies and depression anxiety. Conclusion: This study shows that general health in both groups is below average which means women are not sensitive about their general health. So planning on improving women’s general health by providing consultation and training courses is suggested.