Psychological Distress Measurement among Infertile Indian Women undergoing In-vitro Fertilization

The treatment of infertility by assisted conception is one of the most progressive areas of modern medicine. The overall aim of the present study is to understand and assess the psychological distress among infertile women undergoing In-vitro-fertilization (IVF) cycle.

The subjects of the present study comprise 125 infertile women undergoing IVF cycle during June 2008 - Jan 2010, at ART centre, Deptt. of Obg, AIIMS New Delhi. Beck Depression Inventory and Infertility Questionnaire was used for the assessment of psychological distress. IFQ measures indicate that 24% of the total infertile women have moderate levels of distress. Scores on BDI revealed that 20% of the women face mild level of depression, 26% moderate levels and 10% face severe depression levels. On BDI scores, a positive association is found with age and BDI scores and a negative significant results with education variable was observed .Higher educated infertile women can better cope with stressful situation as compared to less educated infertile women. Psychological distress appears almost at par in case of conceived and non-conceived women. However, sexual dissatisfaction among infertile women on higher side.