Depression among Primary And or Or Secondary Infertile Women

Abstract

Introduction:Infertility is often associated with a chronic state of stress which may manifest itself in anxiety-related and depressive symptoms. Infertility is a rising problem all over the world and it affects an estimated 9-15% of couples of childbearing age. It can lead to many psychosocial consequences like depression, anxiety, guilt, social seclusion, the feeling of worthlessness, loss of self-esteem, and even suicidal thoughts. Not only primary infertility but secondary infertility is also associated with severe psychiatric disorders who are unable to conceive again or have abortions or stillbirths. This study aimed to analyze depression among primary and/or secondary infertile women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the OPD of Impulse Fertility Center, Impulse Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study was conducted for a period from January 2022 to December 2022. A total of 100 patients who received outdoor treatment during the study period were purposively selected as the sample size. A purposive sampling technique was followed in this study. After approval by the Ethics committee of the Hospital, informed consent from the respondents was obtained. Socio-demographic information including age, duration of infertility, and religion were obtained from the respondents. Degree of agreement and problematic situations, concerning parenthood was the major scales to differ the levels of depression. A questionnaire was developed and data

was collected by interviewing the patients. Data were processed and analyzed by SPSS 19 version. To get the study's findings, a descriptive inferential statistical analysis was carried out. The responders' identities were kept strictly private. Results: Concerning the age of the patients, most of them (35. 0%) belonged to the >40 years age group, followed by (33. 0% in) the 36-40 years age group, 30. 0% were from the 30-35 years age group, and the rest 2. 0% belonged to the 24-29 years age group. In the present study, most of the patients (56. 0%) suffered from primary infertility, followed by secondary infertility (44. 0%). In this study, the maximum number of patients suffering from moderate depression (52. 0%), followed by mild depression (40. 0%), and severe depression (8. 0%). Concerning the factors influencing depression in infertile women, 34. 0% of subjects were concerned about the duration of infertility, 32. 0% duration of treatment, 35. 0% about the duration of the marriage, 30. 0% were aged >30 years, 25. 0% due to lack of emotional support. Conclusion:This study concluded that women were depressed more due to primary infertility (56. 0%) rather than secondary infertility (44. 0%). Depression was mostly seen in women >40 years old which indicated depression increased with increasing age. Duration of marriage, duration of infertility, duration of treatment of infertility, age >30 years, and lack of emotional support were the main influencing factors of depression.