Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Dec 23;5(1):15.
doi: 10.1186/1751-0759-5-15.

Evaluation of factors associated with the anxiety and depression of female infertility patients

Mariko Ogawa  1 , Kiyoshi Takamatsu, Fumi Horiguchi
Affiliations

Evaluation of factors associated with the anxiety and depression of female infertility patients

Mariko Ogawa et al. Biopsychosoc Med. .

Abstract

Background: Because the primary aim of infertility treatment is to achieve pregnancy, mental health care during this treatment is often neglected. However, the inability to conceive children is stressful for couples throughout the world. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to the anxiety and depression of female infertility patients.

Methods: Participants included 83 Japanese women who initially visited the Reproduction Center of the Tokyo Dental College Ichikawa General Hospital to undergo testing and receive infertility treatment between February and April 2008. We administered two psychological tests, the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) test and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) test. We then examined the association of the test results with age, pregnancy and delivery history, employment status, duration of infertility, infertility treatment history, and male infertility.

Results: As patient age increased, total HADS and depression scores also increased. No correlation was observed between duration of infertility and SDS or HADS scores. Results were similar when the presence and absence of delivery history was compared. Patients who underwent infertility treatment were more likely to have high HADS depression scores compared to patients who had not undergone treatment. Additionally, patients whose husbands were infertile had significantly lower total HADS and anxiety scores than those whose husbands were not infertile.

Conclusions: Age and male infertility are factors that influence the presence of anxiety and depression in female infertility patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Cwikel J, Gidron Y, Sheiner E. Psychological interactions with infertility among women. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2004;117:126–131. doi: 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2004.05.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Boivin J, Griffiths E, Venetis CA. Emotional distress in infertile women and failure of assisted reproductive technologies: meta-analysis of prospective psychosocial studies. BMJ. 2011;342:d223. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d223. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Greil AL. Infertility and psychological distress: a critical review of the literature. Soc Sci Med. 1997;45:1679–1704. doi: 10.1016/S0277-9536(97)00102-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sbaragli C, Morgante G, Goracci A, Hofkens T, De Leo V, Castrogiovanni P. Infertility and psychiatric morbidity. Fertil Steril. 2008;90:2107–2111. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.10.045. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Domar AD, Zuttermeister PC, Friedman R. The psychological impact of infertility: a comparison with patients with other medical conditions. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 1993;14(Suppl):45–52. - PubMed