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Tailored support may be required to reduce the impact of the infertility journey on mental health, relationships and daily lives of infertile patients and partners to infertile patients

Boivin, Jacky ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9498-1708, Vassena, Rita, Costa, Mauro, Vegni, Elena, Dixon, Marjorie, Collura, Barbara, Markert, Marie, Samuelsen, Carl, Guiglotto, Jillian, Roitmann, Eva and Domar, Alice 2022. Tailored support may be required to reduce the impact of the infertility journey on mental health, relationships and daily lives of infertile patients and partners to infertile patients. Reproductive BioMedicine Online 44 (6) , pp. 1045-1054. 10.1016/j.rbmo.2022.01.015

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Abstract

Research question What is the psychological impact of infertility on infertile patients and partners of infertile patients? Design This online, international, quantitative survey assessed the impact of infertility on mental health, relationships and daily activities for 1944 respondents. Respondents were male or female infertile patients (n = 1037) or partners to infertile patients (n = 907; not necessarily partners of the patient sample) and were recruited at different stages of the treatment journey. Results The most common emotions were ‘sadness’ at infertility diagnosis and ‘anxiety’ during treatment. Emotions differed in nature and intensity throughout the journey. Envy of others who achieved pregnancy was frequently reported by women. More than half of respondents (60.4%; n = 1174) perceived the infertility journey to have impacted their mental health, and 44.1% (n = 857) of respondents sought mental health support. More patients reported mental health impacts (70.1%, n = 727) than partners (49.3%, n = 447). One in three respondents indicated that their relationship had suffered due to the infertility diagnosis. Of these respondents, 55.0% (n = 409) strongly agreed that infertility caused an emotional strain. Patients more often than partners reported a detrimental impact on daily activities. Respondents most commonly agreed with statements regarding an ‘effect on work–life balance’. Conclusion Treatment journey stages are defined by their impact profile, which differs between infertile patients and partners of infertile patients. Negative impacts are diverse (mental health, relational, daily activities). There was disparity between the number of respondents reporting mental health issues and the number seeking mental health support. This indicates the need for support services tailored to different treatment stages.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Psychology
Additional Information: This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Publisher: Elsevier
ISSN: 1472-6483
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 18 March 2022
Date of Acceptance: 26 January 2022
Last Modified: 02 May 2023 20:14
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/148314

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