The Comparison of Quality Of Life and Social Support among Fertile and Infertile Women

Introduction: Along with some authors through literature indicating the influence of infertility on the quality of life, this study aimed at comparing the impact of infertility on the quality of life and social support among fertile and infertile women. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 50 hospitalized and outpatient infertile women and 50 fertile women aged 20-40 referred to gynecology, obstetrics and infertility centers of Arak University of Medical Sciences from March 2013 to August 2013. The patients were requested to complete the Persian version of the WHOQOL-BREF (world health organization quality of life) and social support questionnaires. The demographic data and data extracted from questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Results:100 women (50 infertile and 50 fertile) with the average age of 33.70±6.53 were recruited. All patients were literate and had a high school diploma. To compare two groups regarding physical health, mental health, social relationship, quality of life, family support, friends’ support, support of other people and social support, we made use of one-way ANOVA. The score obtained from variables regarding infertile women was higher than that of fertile ones, and the difference between the two groups was significant. To compare environmental health, we used Kruskal-Wallis test. The mean score of environmental health among infertile women was higher than that of fertile women, however, the difference was not significant (P= 0.15). Conclusion: As indicated by the results, infertility reduces mental and physical health, social relationship and quality of life in women. Additionally, it was found that infertile women were less supported than fertile ones by society, family, friends and other people.

Keywords:

Fertility , Infertility , Quality of life (QOL) , Social Support