Relationship Between Perceived Violence and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Infertile Women: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Background: Infertility disrupts the life of infertile couples and causes violence against women. Women who experience violence must deal with the painful memories of that stressful event. Those who go through events beyond normal experience may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the relationship between perceived violence and PTSD in infertile women. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 148 infertile women with PTSD and 148 infertile women without PTSD who had attended Milad Infertility Treatment Center in Mashhad, Iran. A score above 50 from the PTSD checklist-civilian version (PCL-C) was considered for the diagnosis of PTSD, and the mean score of violence was compared between the groups of subjects with and without PTSD. Results: The results showed a significant relationship between PTSD and violence against infertile women (P < 0.001). The mean violence score was 59.22 ± 7.31 in subjects with PTSD and 41.10 ± 13.33 in the group of subjects without PTSD. Moreover, the risk of violence was 1.11 times higher in subjects with PTSD than in the healthy group (OR = 1.11, CI 95%: 1.08 - 1.14). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the risk of violence was higher in subjects with PTSD than in women without this disorder. Therefore, necessary measures must be taken to help infertile women affected by violence.