Family-related opinions and stressful situations associated with psychological distress in women undergoing infertility treatment.

Jiro Takaki,Yuri Hibino

doi:10.3390/ijerph110909068

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate how family-related opinions and stressful situations are related to psychological distress in women undergoing infertility treatment. The subjects in this cross-sectional study were recruited from female patients undergoing infertility treatment (n = 2540) at 70 infertility treatment institutions in Japan. Because of non-participation or missing data, the number of subjects included in the analysis was 635 (response rate, 25.0%). The family-related opinions and stressful situations were evaluated using the original questions. Psychological distress was assessed using a self-report measure, the Kessler Six-question Psychological Distress Scale (K6). The K6 scores of the following participants were significantly (p < 0.05) and independently high: those with more frequent miscarriage/stillbirth/abortions, those with repeated miscarriages as the cause of infertility, those with infertility of unknown causes, those living with no child, those having a low joint income with their partner, those with the opinion that “women should devote themselves to their household duties” those who had considered stopping treatment, those without the opinion that “married life without children is favorable” and those who had experienced stressful situations such as inadequate explanation by doctors, frustration of multiple failed attempts, differences of opinion with the partner, and lack of knowledge regarding when to stop treatment. Family-related opinions and stressful situations associated with psychological distress in women undergoing infertility treatment are outlined. The results of this study may contribute to the prevention of and care for psychological distress in female patients undergoing infertility treatment.

Highlights

The clinical definition of infertility as used by the World Health Organization (WHO) is “a disease of the reproductive system defined by a failure to achieve clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse” [1], whereas the WHO’s epidemiologic definition is “women of reproductive age at risk of becoming pregnant who report unsuccessful attempts at achieving pregnancy for more than 2 years” [2]
The purpose of this study is to investigate how family-related opinions and stressful situations are related to psychological distress in women undergoing infertility treatment
The number of miscarriages/stillbirths/abortions were significantly positively associated with the K6 scores, and the K6 scores of the following participants were significantly high: those whose cause of infertility was precocious menopause, those whose cause of infertility was repeated miscarriage, those whose cause of infertility was unknown, those living with no child, those having an annual joint income with their partner of

Summary

Introduction

The clinical definition of infertility as used by the World Health Organization (WHO) is “a disease of the reproductive system defined by a failure to achieve clinical pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse” [1], whereas the WHO’s epidemiologic definition is “women of reproductive age at risk of becoming pregnant who report unsuccessful attempts at achieving pregnancy for more than 2 years” [2]. Many infertile patients have had children using assisted reproductive technology (ART). The International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproduction Technology of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology estimated that up to 2011, approximately 5 million children had been born using ART. In Japan, the first IVF birth occurred in 1983, and approximately 29,000 births (2.7% of all births) were achieved by IVF in 2010 [5], indicating that many infertile patients have benefited from ART

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Conclusion