engleski

Personal and partner’s correlates of fertility‐ related quality of life

This study examined the relations among men's and women's own emotional adjustment and fertility- related quality of life (QoL), and those of their partners in couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology treatment (ART). A convenience sample of 94 couples undergoing ART was recruited in a specialized clinic. Participants were interviewed for sociodemographic and infertility-related data, and both members of the couple completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Fertility Quality of Life Questionnaire (FertiQoL). Differences between men and women were tested using paired- samples t-tests. To predict a participant’s fertility-related QoL, multivariate linear regression models were constructed using the person’s own results on the HADS and its partner’s scores on the HADS and the four core FertiQoL domains. The majority of participants were older than 30 years (women: 31.7±4.83 yrs, men: 34.1±5.16, t=4.86, p<.001). About 60% of the participants had high-school education, and around 70% lived in urban settings. The type of ART was still undetermined for 48.9% of the couples, and 42.6% were scheduled for IVF. The participants were typically childless (89.4%), and 86.8% were preparing for their first ART. Mean duration of infertility was 3.78±3.29 years. Male factors accounted for infertility in 49.5% of the couples, followed by female (18.7%) and idiopathic (16.5%) factors. The participants' anxiety (men: 3.6±2.51 ; women: 5.17±2.94) and depression (men: 2.0±1.96, women: 2.0±1.89) were in the non-clinical range, and total fertility-related QoL was high (men: 86.4±8.42 ; women: 81.6±10.92). Compared to women, men reported less anxiety (t=5.02, p<.001), fertility-related emotional distress (t=4.53, p<.001), mind/body issues (t=3.57, p=.001), and social isolation (t=3.67, p<.001), as well as higher overall fertility-related QoL (t=4.02, p<.001). In a multivariate model, women’s total fertility QoL was predicted by their own anxiety (β=-.407, p<.001) and depressive symptoms (β=-.295, p=.001), and by their partners’ fertility-related emotional distress (β=.266, p=.001). The same multivariate pattern of results was obtained for men, with both personal and partners’ emotional adjustment predicting fertility related QoL (own anxiety: β=-.300, p=.004 ; own depression: β=-.299, p=.004 ; partners’ emotional distress: β=.238, p=.008). The model accounted for 35% (R2=.357) of the variance of men’s fertility-related QoL, and for 53% (R2=.539) of that pertaining to women. In conclusion, emotional adjustment of both an individual and its partner is related to a person’s fertility-related QoL.

ART; dyad; FertiQoL

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