Level of Stress and Perceived Social Support among Women Seeking Infertility Treatment: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Infertility is frequently a secret battle, and depressive symptoms are more common in infertility patients than in cancer patients. Around 60–80 million couples worldwide have infertility, which has a wide range of effects on many different dimensions. Despite this, it is progressive in nature. Traditional conceptions of reproductive awareness included understanding of female anatomy and physiology and how it relates to family planning, as well as the possibility that couples might be somewhat exposed to the causes of infertility. The present study aims to assess the level of stress and perceived social support among women seeking infertility treatment. A quantitative approach with exploratory design was used to conduct the study at selected infertility clinic, Saveetha Medical College &Hospital with the sample size of 60 using non probability purposive sampling technique. The demographic and clinical variables of the women were collected by semi-structured questionnaire. The perceived stress scale “BDI” was used to evaluate the level of stress the and Multidimensional scale of perceived social support “MSPSS” was used for determination of perceived social support. The results the study revealed that the mean score of stress among women seeking infertility treatment was 20.97±6.85 and the mean score of perceived social support was 3.72±1.43. The Correlation value of r = -0.447 shows a mild negative correlation which was found to be statistically significant at p<0.05 level. This clearly infers that when the perceived social support among women seeking infertility treatment increases their stress level decreases. Although the infertility clinic has formal requirements for psychological counseling for infertility patients, there is acknowledgement that incorporating psychological interventions into routine practice at ART clinics is beneficial.