Depression among infertile women in Ogbomosoland

Abstract

Background: Infertility is a major medical condition that affects many married couples globally and it has immense psycho-social impact on couples, especially in Africa where a high premium is placed on child-bearing. This study therefore determined the prevalence of and the factors associated with depression among infertile women in Ogbomoso, Southwest Nigeria.

Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out at the gynaecology clinic of the Bowen University Teaching Hospital using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 to screen for and determine the severity of depression as well as assess the social functioning of the respondents. A total of 110 women with infertility were recruited. Data was analysed using SPSS^® (version 20) with statistical significance set at less than 0.05.

Results: The study found a depression prevalence of 52.7%. There was no significant association between the age group of the respondents (p = 0.889), their level of education (p = 0.731), years since marriage (p = 0.38), type of infertility (p = 0.873), number of living children (p = 0.226), sex of the children (p = 0.257) and depression. Depression was, however, significantly associated with impairment in social functioning of the respondents (p = 0.005).

Conclusion: Depression is a very common co-morbidity in infertile women. It should not only be screened for among infertile women, but physicians attending to such women need to offer psycho-social support as part of care for these women.

Keywords: depression, infertility, social functioning, mental disorder, co-morbidity