Depressive morbidity among female partner of infertile couple in a tertiary care setup in Bangladesh

Depressive morbidity in infertile female partner

Abstract

Background: There are 80 million infertile couples in the world which correspond to approximately 15% of all couples in their reproductive age. Negative attitude and behavior of family and acquaintances causes severe psychological stress resulting in social discrimination and stigmatization which may lead to anxiety, depression and even suicide. The study was aimed to estimate the prevalence and predictors of depressive morbidity among Bangladeshi infertile women.

Methods: This prospective, observational study was done on a total of 215 female partners of infertile couples who attended ‘Infertility Management Center’; a Dhaka based tertiary care setup for infertility management and assisted reproductive technologies from August - December 2016. Only those who were unable to conceive after one year of unprotected sexual intercourse and agreed to take part in the study were included in the study. Patients with history of mental illness prior to infertility diagnosis and on any anti-psychotic drugs were excluded from the study. Data collection was done using the validated Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaire.

Results: Among the study population 72.6% were suffering from primary infertility and 27.4% from secondary infertility. Of them, 52.6% had 5 to 10 years and 47.4% had various duration of infertility. Female cause of infertility was in 30.7% couples, male cause was in 16.3%, both were in 4.7% and finally unknown was 48.4%. Female partners of infertile couples showed different types of mode disorders such as 29.3% (n=63) having severe depression, 39.5% moderate, 20.5% mild and 10.7% having no depression. Association between educational status and depression score showed 53.02% graduate having severe depression, though statistically it was not significant. Depression was most common among patients suffering from primary infertility and among housewives as they probably had more time to think and feel the situation.

Conclusion: The high level of depression among female partners of infertile couples revealed in this study is quiet alarming and requires attention of the medical fraternity. This study proposes that clinicians should be more aware about anxiety-depression disorders among infertile groups and the necessity of identifying patients who require psychological assistance.

Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2019; 45: 93-96