Health-related quality of life in infertile couples receiving IVF or ICSI treatment
2008

Quality of Life in Infertile Couples Undergoing IVF or ICSI

Sample size: 1028 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Rashidi Batool, Montazeri Ali, Ramezanzadeh Fatemeh, Shariat Mamak, Abedinia Nasrin, Ashrafi Mahnaz

Primary Institution: Vali-e-Asr Reproductive Health Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Hypothesis

This study aimed to examine health-related quality of life in infertile couples receiving either in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment.

Conclusion

Infertile couples, especially less educated younger women, are at risk of a sub-optimal health-related quality of life and they should be provided help and support to improve their health-related quality of life.

Supporting Evidence

  • Male patients had a better health-related quality of life compared to female patients.
  • Lower educational level and female gender were significant predictors of poorer physical health-related quality of life.
  • Younger age was a significant predictor of poorer mental health-related quality of life.

Takeaway

Infertile couples can feel very sad and stressed, especially younger women with less education, and they need support to feel better.

Methodology

This was a cross-sectional study using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) to assess quality of life in infertile couples attending treatment.

Potential Biases

The evaluation of infertile women and men without comparing them to the general population may contain several biases.

Limitations

The study did not include a control group for comparison.

Participant Demographics

The mean age of women was 31.4 years and for men it was 35.9 years, with equal numbers of men and women (514 each).

Statistical Information

P-Value

p<0.0001

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1472-6963-8-186

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