Prevalence and predictors of infertility-specific stress in women diagnosed with primary infertility: A clinic-based study

BACKGROUND: According to the existing literature on infertility, stress appears to be inevitably associated with infertility diagnosis and treatment in sub-fertile individuals. The epidemiological data on the prevalence and predictors of infertility-specific stress in cultural specific scenario are scarce. The objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of infertility-specific stress and identify predictors of infertility-specific stress in women diagnosed with primary infertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 infertile married women, diagnosed with primary infertility. The tools used for the assessment were “semi-structured questionnaire” compiled by the authors, “ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders (Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines),” and “Psychological Evaluation Test for infertility.” STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 15). Chi-square test was used for univariate analysis followed by multiple logistic regressions between stress and the predictor variables. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The prevalence of stress among women was 80%. Univariate analysis revealed that predictors of stress were years of marital life, duration of infertility, infertility type, history of gynecological surgery, cycles of ovulation induction with timed intercourse and intra-uterine inseminations, present and past psychiatric morbidity, coping difficulties, gynecological diagnosis, and severity of premenstrual dysphoria. Multivariate analysis showed leading associations of stress with infertility type and coping difficulties.