Effect of Infertility on the Quality of Life, A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Infertility is a major life crisis which causes serious mental problems and stressful experience of infertile couples. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare the quality of life in fertile and infertile women. Materials and Methods: In a cross - sectional study compared the quality of life in 450 women attending both public and private health centers in Ilam, western of Iran, in 2013. Participants were divided in two groups’ fertilities and infertilities women. Data was collected by trained research midwives using demographic and SF-36 questionnaires. SPSS software Package 16 was used to analyze the data of this project. Differences were regarded statistically significant with an alpha error of 0.05. Results: Significant difference was reported in mean age between fertile and infertile women (p=0.003). Mean scores of all Mental dimensions of quality of life were higher in fertile women in comparison with infertile women. This difference was statistically significant (58.35±19.43 vs 56.56±13.18 respectively) (p= 0.000).The mean score of all physical dimensions have not statistically significant difference in fertile and infertile women (79.77± 23.19 vs 74.96±23.45 respectively) (p= 0.441). Conclusion: In most infertile women, the mean score of Mental dimensions of quality of life is lower in comparison with fertile women, therefore, it is necessary the used of counseling and treatment programs in infertile women.