The psychological health of women with infertility: Hopelessness, anxiety and depression levels

Özet

Objectives: This study was performed to determine the level of hopelessness, anxiety and depression in women who applied for infertility treatment. Methods: The study was conducted with 70 female patients who applied to the “IVF Unit” of a university hospital in Ankara, Turkey between October and November 2019, had agreed to participate in the study and were diagnosed with infertility. The data of the study were collected using the face to face interview technique with the Beck Hopelessness Inventory (BHI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Socio-demographic Information Forms. The ethical permission of the study was taken from the clinical research unit of the university where the research was conducted. Frequency and percentages in the evaluation of descriptive data; Chi-Square and Spearman Correlation Test was used for relationships and comparisons. Results: Of the participants, 44.4% completed high school and 21.4% had an undergraduate degree. Of them, 60% were unemployed and 57.2% are middle-income earners. Of them, 41.4% were 33 and older; 55.7% stated that they had no children due to infertility. The average year of marriage was 7.4, average years of unprotected intercourse was 6.1, and BHI, BAI and BDI score averages were 7, 35 and 17 respectively. It was determined that there was a significant relationship between the status of unemployment of the women participating in the study and BHI, BAI and BDI scores, and between the years of unprotected intercourse and the BAI scores. It was observed that there was a negative correlation between women's education levels and the BAI and BDI scores, whereas there was a positive relationship between unemployed and BHI, BAI and BDI. Conclusion: As the education levels of the women participating in the study decreased, BDI and BAI scores increased. It was observed that unemployed women had high scores on BHI, BAI and BDI, and anxiety scores increased as the years they had unprotected intercourse increased. According to these findings, among women receiving infertility treatment; those with a low education level, those who do not work and those with many years of having unprotected intercourse should be considered as a high risk group and screened for anxiety and depression. Nurses working in the field of infertility should improve their psychosocial counseling skills and consultancy skills should be used actively in the services provided in this field.