A cry for help: the relationship between perceived social support and quality of life in infertility patients

increased impact. RESULTS: A total of 809 women met the inclusion criteria, of which 396 (49%) completed the questionnaire. Most participants (75.5%) reported having no prior children. The majority (58.8%) attributed infertility to only female factors, 30.4% to a combination of male and female factors, 7.3% to only male factor, and 3.5% reported that the etiology had not been determined. The actual cause of infertility from the medical records was statistically different from the perceived cause of infertility, p<0.01. In the multivariate analysis, women with female factor only infertility reported the highest level of sexual dysfunction (p<0.01) and personal distress (p1⁄40.01). Women <40 years old were at higher risk for sexual dysfunction, personal distress and social distress when compared to those older than 40 (p<0.01 for all). Respondents with prior biological children reported lower levels of social and personal distress but higher levels of marital distress (p<0.05). Relative to those with <6 months of infertility, respondents with 6-48 months of infertility reported lower rates of sexual dysfunction (p1⁄40.05) but higher rates of marital distress (p1⁄40.04). These results are similar to those previously published for male respondents from the same cohort (1). CONCLUSIONS: Women seeking care for infertility are at high risk of sexual dysfunction, and social, marital, and personal distress. These data support the practice of screening female infertility patients for psychosocial distress and offering appropriate treatment or referrals to help address these concerns. Providers should consider the roles that younger age and perceived causes of infertility play in a women’s overall wellbeing. Reference: 1. Smith JF, Walsh TJ, Shindel AW, et al. Sexual, marital, and social impact of a man’s perceived infertility diagnosis. J Sex Med. 2009;6(9):2505-15.