Quality of Life and Its Influencing Factors of Couples Referred to An Infertility Center in Shiraz, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Infertility Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shiraz School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

3 Student Research Center, Infertility Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

4 Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Infertility Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

5 Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Background: Infertility adversely affects quality of life (QoL). The present study aims to evaluate QoL and its associated
factors among infertile couples.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the Fertility QoL (FertiQoL) instrument was used to measure
QoL among 501 volunteer couples who attended the Infertility Clinic at the Mother and Child Hospital, Shiraz, Iran.
We used an additional questionnaire to assess participants’ demographic and clinical characteristics. The relationship
between the scores of QoL to the sociodemographic and treatment data was analysed.
Results: The subjects with lower income levels had lower relational, mind/body, emotional, and total core scores. Female
participants without academic education had lower scores in the emotional subscale, while the male participants
showed lower scores in emotional, mind/body, relational, social, and total QoL domains. Subjects who had undergone
any type of treatment, including pharmacological treatment, intrauterine insemination (IUI), intra-cytoplasmic sperm
injection (ICSI), and in vitro fertilization (IVF) showed significantly lower scores in the environmental domain. Participants
with lower infertility duration obtained significantly greater QoL scores. Finally, tolerability, emotional, and
environmental domains were significantly more desirable when the infertility problem was related to a male factor.
Conclusion: Infertile couples with shorter duration of infertility and male etiology have higher QoL. Lower academic
education, lower income levels, or prior unsuccessful treatments are associated with lower QoL.

Keywords