Association between infertility factors and perceived relationship quality in infertile couples
نویسندگان
1 Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
2 Psychiatrist, Modarres Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
3 Department of Counseling, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran
4 Unit of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Taylor’s University, Malaysia
5 Unit of Public Health, School of Medicine, Taylor’s University, Malaysia
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چکیده
BACKGROUND: Infertility is a crisis in the life of couples that could affect their relationships. Thepresent study was conducted to evaluate the relation between infertility factors and the quality ofmarital relationship in infertile couples who were referred to the Fertility and Infertility Center of Isfahan.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was conducted cross‑sectional on 131 infertilecouples who were referred to the Fertility and Infertility Center of Isfahan and had the inclusion criteriaand were selected using convenient sampling method. Data gathering tool for the present study wasPerceived Relationship Quality Components (PRQC). All the data were analyzed using SPSS softwareversion 21. Analysis was conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics (independent t‑test andone‑way analysis of variance). The level of significance was set at 0.05 for all the statistical tests.RESULTS: The mean score of PRQC for women and men was 84.05 and 88.46, respectively, andtheir difference was statistically significant. There was a significant relation between the score ofPRQC in women (P = 0.028) and men (P = 0.030) with the infertility factor. Results showed that themean score of perceived quality of different aspects of the marital relationship was significantly lowerwhen the infertility factor was female (P < 0.05). In women aspects of “satisfaction” (P = 0.024) and“commitment” (P = 0.011) and in men aspect of “love” (P = 0.004) from the perceived aspects ofrelationship had a significant relation with the infertility factor.CONCLUSIONS: Perceived quality of different aspects of marital relationship had a significant relationwith infertility factor in infertile couples. Results of the present study showed that when infertility hadfemale causes, the quality of relationship was more affected. Therefore, in infertility counseling,simultaneous counseling for both spouses with emphasis on women, along with treatments, shouldbe considered.
