Assessment of Level of Stress and Coping Strategies Adopted by Couples Seeking Treatment for Infertility in Hospitals of Selected Areas

Abstract

Introduction: The child is an important member in the family, having children is in fact a part of marriage. In most of the societies, children are considered as a natural result of union of man and a woman in the institution of marriage. In all cultures, being pregnant or to produce a child is considered as a major event in the family. If a couple fails to conceive for a year after regular sexual intercourse without contraception, they are called infertile. Objectives: The study assessed the level of stress and coping strategies adopted by couples seeking treatment for infertility. Methods: A non-experimental, exploratory, and descriptive method was used to assess stress and coping. The data were collected from 60 couples seeking treatment for infertility using a semi-structured questionnaire and Modified Likert Scale from the selected hospitals of Pune. Results: Data analysis reveals that 61.7% of the husbands had moderate stress whereas only 30% was found in wife. About 70% of wife had mild stress and 33.3% was found among husband. About 5% of severe stress was observed in husband whereas wife had none. About 78.33% of the husband had average coping whereas 65% was found in wife. About 23.33% wives had good coping and 13.3% was found in husband. Poor coping was found in 11.66% of the wives and 8.3% among husband. Stress among wives was found to have significant association with demographic variable “religion” compared to others. Conclusion: The present study shows that majority of the couples were able to cope though they had stress regarding infertility.