Differences in psychophysical well-being and signs of depression in couples undergoing their first consultation for assisted reproduction technology (ART): an Italian pilot study

Abstract

ObjectiveThe data we refer to belong to a longitudinal research project starting at the first contact of individual couples with the Infertility Unity; they were then followed-up till pregnancy or failure of treatments. The study aims at investigating in depth the emotional state of patients admitted for first consultation. Specifically, we investigated the emotional state of the two members of an infertile couple, considering also their biomedical and socio-demographic characteristics. Study designThis is a cross-sectional study evaluating a consecutive series of 309 couples, consulting for the first time our Infertility Unit for a multidisciplinary diagnostic evaluation in relation to their infertility. The multidisciplinary equip is composed of a gynaecologist, an andrologist and a clinical psychologist. Two standardized instruments were administered by the clinical psychologist to the two members of the couple: the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS) and the General Health Questionnaire-form 12 (GHQ-12), for screening of non-somatic signs of depression and psychophysical well-being, respectively. Couples were eligible for the study if they had not received any prior ART treatment in our Unit and were able to read and understand Italian. In addition, they had to agree to provide informed consent for the study. ResultsWe obtained a response in 62% of all eligible couples. There were two major unexpected findings:(1)Cohabiting women were less likely to experience poor psychophysical conditions before their first consultation for ART when compared to married women (OR=0.51, CI 0.27–0.96; p<0.05);(2)Male partners showed an increased risk of experiencing non-somatic signs of depression with increasing age (OR=1.13, CI 1.03–1.25, p<0.05). ConclusionPsychological and counselling services dedicated to ART should consider also socio-demographic data and always specifically consider gender differences, not only a couple's psychology and its dynamics.