Factors affecting the quality of life of Japanese women undergoing infertility treatment: A literature review.

Purpose This study aimed to elucidate the current state of the quality of life (QOL) of Japanese women undergoing infertility treatment and to identify the factors affecting it. Methods A comprehensive literature search using keywords such as "infertility (treatment)," "infertility-female (treatment)," and "quality of life" was conducted on Ichushi web version 6, PubMed, CINAHL, and Psycinfo. Original articles meeting eligibility criteria were considered for the review, and content that described the current state of the QOL of Japanese women undergoing infertility treatment and identified factors affecting it, were extracted. Results Following the literature search, 13 papers were extracted, and seven types of QOL scales were used to identify factors affecting QOL of Japanese women undergoing infertility treatment. Among six sub-items selected from the FertiQOL scale, "Emotional items" and "Treatment environment items" revealed lower scores, whereas "Relational items" revealed a higher score. Discrepancies in scores for "Social functioning" were noted between SF-12 and SF-36. In one study using WHO/QOL-26, "Physical" domain indicated the lowest QOL scores, whereas another study indicated no significant differences in scores between the "Physical," "Psychological," "Social relationships," and "Environment" domains. Among "Quality of life during infertility treatment scale," "QOL related to family relationships items" recorded the highest score. Factors affecting QOL were categorized into personal factors, treatment-related factors, psychological factors, and social factors. The love and involvement of the partner and trust in infertility treatment had an impact on improving QOL. Conclusion To measure the QOL of Japanese women undergoing infertility treatment, several types of health-related QOL scales were used. The sub-items or domains with low and high QOL scores varied across the QOL scales. Given the finding that the love and involvement from those women's partners, and their confidence in infertility treatment improved their QOL, medical professionals should support the relationships between the women undergoing treatment and their partners, and provide respectful explanations and care to patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]