Psychological distress and fertility quality of life (FertiQoL) in infertile Korean women: The first validation study of Korean FertiQoL.
10.5653/cerm.2016.43.3.174
- Author:
Hee Jun CHI
1
;
Il Hae PARK
;
Hong Gil SUN
;
Jae Won KIM
;
Kyeong Ho LEE
Author Information
1. IVF Center, Mizmedi Hospital, Seoul, Korea. hanna129@hanmail.net
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-42;
Fertility quality of life;
Psychological distress
- MeSH:
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone;
Anxiety;
Depression;
Female;
Fertility*;
Humans;
Hydrocortisone;
Korea;
Quality of Life*;
Reference Values;
Weights and Measures
- From:Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
2016;43(3):174-180
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: To investigate psychological distress and fertility quality of life (FertiQoL) in infertile Korean women, and to investigate whether a correlation exists between psychological distress and FertiQoL. METHODS: Participants in this study were made up of 141 infertile women and 65 fertile women. We conducted a survey on psychological distress (using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales [DASS]-42 questionnaire) and administered a FertiQoL questionnaire. The levels of stress hormones (adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH] and cortisol) in serum were assessed. RESULTS: The scores for depression (13.7±8.4), anxiety (10.7±6.4), and stress (18.0±8.3) among the infertile women were significantly higher than the scores for depression (9.4±7.5), anxiety (6.6±6.0), and stress (12.2±8.3, p<0.001) among the fertile women. There was no difference in the scores for depression (13.5±8.2, 13.8±8.6), anxiety (10.0±6.2, 11.5±6.6) and stress (17.7±8.4, 18.4±8.1) between younger (≤34) and older (≥35) participants. The mind-body (r =–0.495) and emotional (r =–0.590) subscales showed a higher negative correlation with stress compared with other scales of psychological distress. At the same time, the social (r =–0.537) and relational (r =–0.385) subscales showed a higher negative correlation with depression. Levels of cortisol and ACTH in infertile women were 9.1 µg/mL and 11.9 pg/mL, respectively, which are within normal ranges. CONCLUSION: The levels of psychological distress and quality of life in infertile Korean women seem to require psychological intervention. This study provides a baseline measurement of psychological distress and FertiQoL in infertile women in Korea, which will be available for developing psychological interventions for infertile Korean women.
