Psychological stress and quality of life among infertile women: A mixed methodology study at a tertiary health center

Abstract

Background: A strong correlation exists between infertility, psychological stress, and quality of life (QoL) among women, and hence, emphasis must be made on improving the psychological context and incorporating psychological counseling as a part of infertility evaluation and management. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Modified FertiQoL tools are used to measure the stress perceived by an individual and to assess the impact of fertility problems on the QoL of women, respectively. Objectives: The objective was to assess the psychological stress and QoL among the infertile women using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Modified FertiQoL (Core) instruments, respectively, to find the correlation between psychological stress and QoL among the study participants and to find the experiences of women who received prior infertility treatment. Materials and Methods: A mixed methodology study was conducted by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Radiodiagnosis and Psychiatry on infertile women attending ESIC Medical College, Hyderabad, Telangana, between December 2020 and August 2021. A total of 274 participants who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled for the quantitative study and 10 participants for the qualitative study. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and standard deviation), comparisons (Student’s t-test), and correlations (Pearson: r-value) were used for quantitative data analysis and thematic content analysis for the qualitative data. Results: The mean age of the participants was 29.17 years (range 22–39 years) with a mean duration of infertility of 6.17 years. The results showed that the mean Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) score among the participants was higher (21.07 ± 4.350) with the low mean Core FertiQoL scores (49.20 ± 7.232). It was also found that there was a significant negative correlation between PSS and total Core FertiQoL scores. The study showed a significant negative correlation between the PSS scores and total FertiQoL, emotional, and mind–body subscales (P < 0.01 significant). It was found that there was a significant negative correlation between PSS scores and subscales of total FertiQoL, in women aged >30 years and those with a duration of infertility of >5 years. Content analysis of in-depth interviews with the women treated for infertility revealed the difficulties the women faced while seeking treatment. Conclusion: The study showed that infertility-related stress was affecting the QoL of women. Based on the recommendations, a holistic approach to the management of infertile women was made, and counseling sessions, yoga, and meditation were started for infertile women.