Emotional Burden of Infertility: A Controlled Study of Women Managed at a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between socio-cultural factors and infertility-related stress among a sample of Nigerian women.
The subscales of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and a schedule detailing socio-demographic and infertility-related variables were administered on women with infertility and a matched control group.
The rates of significant anxiety symptoms (39.4%) and depressive symptoms (40.4%) among the women with infertility were higher than the corresponding rates of 11.1% and 10.1% in the control group. Their mean anxiety and depression scores were also higher (P<0.001). Low religiosity, friction with husband's family, polygamous relationship and family pressure on husband predicted symptoms among the women with infertility. Public campaign to improve attitude towards women with infertility is advocated. Therapeutic mental health services are important for these women.


Gender and Behaviour Vol. 5 (2) 2007: pp. 1443-1449